TOLD AROUND THE BIG TABLE 
The Capture of a Hawk Owl 
On a Sunday morning early in March 1900, while skirting 
a small swamp near Western Avenue in the Fay Estate, Lynn, 
I came upon a large, fallen, dead pine tree. In passing it 
my eye fell upon a smallish owl stowed away under a large 
limb. Approaching his hiding place slowly and calling gently, 
I was able to reach out and seize his owlship. It proved to 
be a Hawk Owl, the only one of this species I have ever seen 
alive. The bird made little resistance and seemed to play 
possum, a habit I have noticed in all small owls when handled. 
Taking the owl home I placed him for safe keeping in a little 
room in the cellar; in this room I also had a pair of flying 
squirrels, recently caught, in a wire cage. During the night 
the owl became very noisy, making noises similar to those of 
a Screech Owl but louder. Next morning both squirrels were 
dead, from fright probably, as they were out of reach of the 
owl. The next night I was forced to set the owl at liberty 
as his noise penetrated the rooms above, and disturbed my 
son, who was seriously ill. 
C. E. M. 
A Bit of Snakeology 
It is a matter of common knowledge with nature students 
that many of our common snakes are persistent plunderers 
of birds’ nests, but few it seems have ever caught the marauders 
in the act. Such was my good fortune however on June 2d 
last, when in the company of Mr. Chas. A. Clark, the well- 
known Lynn naturalist and assiduous student of all things 
reptilian, I chanced to wander through that part of Lynn 
Woods known as the Horse Pasture. 
In a close thicket of gray birch saplings our attention was 
attracted by a great commotion among the birds. Pressing 
through the thick growth to investigate, we found a robin’s 
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