Bubo virginianus . 
Lake Umbagog, Maine. 
1897. 
Sept. 7. 
length of the legs when the bird started from its perch, but 
it always drew them up out of sight among the feathers before 
it had gone many rods. The wings were usually flapped sturd¬ 
ily and continuously for the first thirty or forty yards after 
which the bird sailed the remainder of the way to its chosen 
perch. The husky cry was often given on wing especially when 
one of the Owls was approaching a stub on which its companion 
was sitting. It is evident that this cry is used chiefly if 
not wholly as a call note and i-fancy-that* whenever it is 
ffHJL "f H 6 
heard it is safe to assume that there are two or more birds, 
hunting in company. On the only previous occasions when I have 
seen the b4rd utter it-at the Lake House many years ago and 
/( Ja, 
near the mouth of Cambridge River last October-'tt was accom- 
panied by a—companion. '~' A -j 
Altogether we had the Owls at Whale Back. Creek under 
close observation for fully half-an-hour. They ’worked around 
us in a half circle following the line of stubs but frequently 
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turned back and went over the same ground. Most of the time 
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they were within 1-Cd,.. to 150 yards. We could see them very 
distinctly against the sky. 
