July, 1881.] 
AND OOLODIST 
tli3 Ornithological Collections made in 
Nevada and Arizona,” says, “It is apparent¬ 
ly quite common in Arizona and New 
Mexico. Its notes are quite similar to the 
(Western) mottled owl, (Scops maccalH,) 
by imitating which, I succeeded in entic¬ 
ing one, step by step, till he finally sat on 
the top of a small oak within thirty feet, 
and scanned my person with evident as¬ 
tonishment, and, I could not hell) f'^iicying, 
with an air of abused confidence. 
Among the pine woods of the White 
Mountains, Arizona, these owls appeared 
to be particularly numerous toward the 
latter part of October, and I had good rea¬ 
son for believing that at this season they 
are quite gregarious. During a week’s 
reconnoissance here, scarcely a camp was 
made but that at some period of the day 
the notes of this species could be heard, 
usually coming from some perch, hidden 
away in the tops of the lofty pines. These 
notes were most frequent at about nine in 
the morning, at which time they appeared 
to gather at some rendezvous, and then 
doze away the time till about four in the 
afternoon, when they* again became noisy, 
and prepared to sally cut for a fresh sup¬ 
ply of provisions. When camped one 
morning in a little valley hemmed in on 
all sides by steep banks, clothed with pines, 
I estimated there must have been at least 
Coiicludeil next Month. 
The Screech Owl in Confinement. 
On May 10, 1880, I procured a Screech 
Owl, (Scops asio) which had been taken 
from the nest when half grown. It has 
been contintrously caged ever since, except 
one week in last December, when it escap¬ 
ed, and was recaptured seven days after. 
It is probable that it fasted the entire 
week, for the ground was covered with 
sn )w, and never having foraged for itself, 
its chances for food were small, and it 
was iMvenously hungry when found. Sev¬ 
eral weeks since I bought a mate for it, 
and a day or two after they both escaped, 
but my pet did not leave, and when I dis¬ 
covered the cage door open and went to | 
35 
close it the owl came Hying down on my 
shoulder from a tree near by. After its 
first moult its plumage became and still 
continues a rich rufous ; it had been a mot¬ 
tled gray and black. In watching this 
owl I have noticed that at all times, but 
especially during the warm weather of 
summer, contrary to the observations of 
several naturalists, it both drank and bath¬ 
ed freely and with unmistakable delight. 
I have made some queer experiments with 
its food. At one time it killed and swal¬ 
lowed whole three full-grown mice in 
quick succession ; another time it killed 
and ate a common water snake over a foot 
long. Snakes give it a great deal of 
troTible, twisting themselves about its legs 
and refusing to be swallowed, by catching 
on and wi’apping their tails about the 
perch. It relishes the cinnamon bat when 
killed ; I have not tried it with a live one. 
It has killed rats nearly full-grown. When 
a rat or moiise is put into the cage it 
pounces upon, it catching it with its claws 
through the neck and small of the back, 
and then brings down its bill and nips it 
along the spine from the head to the 
tail, and then, if not too large, swallows it 
entire. Ten to twelve sphynx moths fur. 
nish but an ordinary meal, although the 
scales and dust sometimes nearly choke it. 
It always tears off the Avings and crushes 
the bodies of all insects before swallowing. 
Grasshoppers,May beetles, and “such small 
deer,” are also relished. It will catch and 
eat anything in the day time quite as freely 
as at night. It pounces with unerring 
certainty upon anything jmt alive into the 
cage, and it quickly determines the ques¬ 
tion of food, whether good or not. Toads 
it eschews, though it will kill and eat frogs. 
It shows a natural aversion to and fear of 
hawks, buzzards, etc., the passage of which 
over its cage is instantly noticed. It 
has great fear of cats and dogs, making its 
feathers lie as flat as possible, snapping 
its bill and making a rattling noise when¬ 
ever they come near. 
Edgar A. Small, Hagarstown, Md. 
