FOREST AND STREAM. 
573 
April 13, 1907-] 
named action we have observed in frogs, toads 
and horned toads. 
We happened along a bass stream near sun¬ 
set one day, and heard a lively commotion bade 
in the woods. Investigating, an overflow pond 
of small size was found, and its water and 
shores were alive with bullfrogs of all sizes. 
We cast a red ibis bass fly close to the largest 
one and had a lively time getting near enough 
to liberate him after he snapped it up. At every 
cast a dozen or more frogs sprang after the 
fly, the one that had been hooked being as 
anxious as the rest to catch it. That was the 
liveliest bit of wqter for awhile that we have 
ever seen, and it was more difficult to make a 
cast and jerk the fly away again than to catch 
a frog. Landing a full-grown bullfrog with a 
fly-rod is no child’s play.— Ed.] 
The Barred Owl. 
(Syrnium varium.) 
Springfield, Mass., March 27 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: During the past few seasons I 
have had an opportunity to examine the stomachs 
of a considerable number of owls of this species, 
and as I have not found a feather or any part 
of a bird in any one of them, I have come to 
the conclusion that it is a most beneficial bird 
to mankind. A very remarkable find in one 
stomach was a cocoon of one of our large silk 
worm moths (Telea polyphemus), the silk on which 
was in good condition, a small hole in one end 
showing where the juices of the pupa had been 
extracted. I had never supposed that these birds 
had the instinct to search for cocoons, which as 
a rule are quite hard to find even by the expert 
entomologist, as they resemble a bunch of dead 
leaves, a little knot or something of that sort. 
There has been quite a large flight of barred 
owls this season in this section of Massachu¬ 
setts as well as an unusual number of goshawks, 
one of the greatest enemies of the ruffed grouse. 
All the specimens that I have had or have heard 
of in cases where I was able to learn anything 
about them, were shot or seen in or near grouse 
covers, or else were after poultry or pigeons. 
For the benefit of readers of Forest and 
Stream I will give my notes on the stomach 
contents of some of our hawks and owls which 
I have had the opportunity to examine. 
Marsh hawk (Circus hudsonius, Linn.). 
March 10, 1906, song sparrow. 
March 25, 1906, meadow mouse. 
Oct. 6, 1906, meadow mouse. 
Sharp-shinned hawk (Accipiter velox, Wils.). 
April 12, 1906, pine warbler. 
Oct. 10, 1906, black poll warbler. 
American goshawk (Accipiter atricapillus ). 
Oct. 31, 1906, ruffed grouse. 
Nov. 9, 1906, poultry. 
Nov. 10, 1906, ruffed grouse. 
Nov. 16, 1906, ruffed grouse. 
Nov. 20, 1906, ruffed grouse. 
Dec. 1, 1906, ruffed grouse. 
Dec. 12, 1906, poultry. 
Jan. 6, 1907, quail. 
Feb. 2, 1907. ruffed grouse. 
Feb. 9, 1907, empty. 
Red-tailed hawk (Buteo borealis). 
Dec. 3, 1906. gray squirrel. 
Dec. 21, 1906, mice. 
Red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus). 
Oct. 18, 1906, snake II inches long and grass¬ 
hoppers. 
Dec. 3, 1906, meadow mice. 
Pigeon hawk (Falco columbianus Linn.). 
Oct. 10, 1906, field sparrow. 
Sparrow hawk (Falco sparverius, Linn.). 
Oct. 21, 1906, two meadow mice. 
Nov. 8, 1906, meadow mouse. 
Dec. 10, 1006, meadow mice. 
Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus). 
Nov. 1, 1906, poultry. 
Nov. 9, 1906, poultry. 
Dec. 10. 1906, gray squirrel. 
Barred owl (Syrnium varium). 
Oct 13, 1906, meadow mice. 
Oct. 15, 1906, white-footed mouse. 
Oct. 16, 1906, white-footed mouse. 
Oct. 26, 1906. northern flying squirrel and long¬ 
tailed shrew. 
Oct. 30, 1906, meadow mouse. 
Nov. 1, 1906, meadow mouse. 
Nov. 7, 1906, empty. 
Nov. 21, 1906, mice. 
Nov. 19, 1906, red squirrel. 
Nov. 21, 1906, mice. 
Dec. 1, 1906, red squirrel and eight mice. 
Dec. 10, 1906, mice. 
Dec. 11, 1906, empty. 
Dec. 27, 1906, mice. 
Dec. 29, 1906, mice. 
Feb. 13, 1907, polyphemus cocoon. 
Feb. 18, 1907, meadow mice. 
Long-eared owl (Asio zuilsonianus). 
Oct. 15, 1906, robin. 
Oct. 20, 1906, field mice. 
Nov. 21, 1906, white-throated sparrow. 
barred owl. 
Drawn by William Dearden. 
Short-eared owl (Asio accipitrinus). 
Oct. 10, 1906, meadow mouse. 
Oct. 21, 1906, mice. 
Screech owl (Megascops asio.) 
Dec. 2, 1906, mice. 
Nov. 21, 1906, Coleoptera. 
Wm. Dearden. 
A Bird on a Hat. 
Hawks Park, Fla., April 6.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: The following is from my note 
book, the date and place June 28 last, at Farm¬ 
ington, Maine: 
“To-day the fledgling barn swallows are launch¬ 
ing forth into the mysteries of their aerial world, 
weak-winged and wabbly of flight. Often as 
many as four or five adult swallows are to be 
seen close about the young bird in the air, pos¬ 
sibly thereby assisting him to a greater degree 
- of confidence in his yet untried powers of wing. 
At such times they keep up a great twittering, 
as of praise and encouragement. At length some 
of the young birds, apparently wing-weary, seek 
some lowly perch on a convenient rock or fence 
rail where they offer a tempting prey to that 
arch enemy of fledglings just out of the nest —• 
the marauding cat. 
“This afternoon as I was down on my knees, 
busily weeding in the onion patch, one of these 
weary little voyagers of the air came to perch 
on the crown of mv haymaker’s hat, where for 
some four or five minutes he rested Comfortably, 
not in the least disturbed by any continued move¬ 
ments, twittering socially whenever a brothe< 
swallow passed overhead. Finally, rested, h« 
took wing once more. 
“Doubtless tp him my big broad hat was al 
a great white rock in a wing-weary land whereon 
he mioffit alffiht and. rest awhile. I held il 
to be a great feather in my hat that I should b< 
mils chosen as a safe and satisfactory perch. 1 
felt, perchance, as the gray-lichened bouldei 
might feel, were the musing poet to come and 
rest upon it for awhile. 
"Perhaps, at some far-distant golden time, 
when we shall at length have ceased to slay 
these innocents of the air, in order that our 
women may barbarously bedeck themselves, these 
birds may once again regain their confidence in 
11s. God haste the time.” 
Le Roy Melville Tufts. 
Canadian Grouse. 
Port Arthur, Canada .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The game birds of this district (north 
of Lake Superior) are three in number, namely, 
the sharp-tailed grouse, the ruffed grouse, and 
the spruce partridge. This latter bird differ! 
from the ruffed grouse by having no lengthened 
feathers or ruff on the neck, and in many other 
particulars, but their habits are much the same 
as the sharp-tailed grouse, or prairie chicken as 
they are commonly called. But under this name 
are tw T o distinct species, the eastern prairie 
chicken, which is the pinnated grouse, and the 
sharp-tailed grouse, which latter extends from 
the forests of Minnesota and Ontario to the 
Rocky Mountains, and is the object of sport 
throughout the whole northwest. It was not, nor 
is it now an exclusive prairie bird, but it is be¬ 
coming more so under the stress of circum¬ 
stances. Its range a few years ago extended 
far to the eastward of any locality where it can 
now be found. In places where both the pinnated 
and sharp-tailed grouse are found the latter are 
distinguished under the name of “white bellies,” 
but as a rule the name chicken covers both. The 
most prominent mark of the bird is its tail 
wherein two long central feathers project beyond 
the rest, and form a sharp point. 
This sharp-tailed grouse frequents the under¬ 
brush during summer, where in concealment the 
mother makes her nest beside some tuft of grass 
or small brush, trusting to quiet and the close 
match her plumage makes with the brown 
herbage. She will permit you almost to tread 
upon her before rising to disclose the treasury 
of her eggs. The young can run about as soon 
as released from the shell, but the covey keeps 
well together until during the early fall and lies 
close. 
With the advance of autumn the young 
separate and go further afield. They then haunt 
the ridges and spread over the prairies, feed¬ 
ing largely upon grasshoppers and other insects 
together with seeds and berries. By the middle 
of October they begin their winter custom of 
perching in trees at night. Here they remain all 
day in stormy weather. As a rule they go away 
in the morning in search of food and return to 
the trees at night. Sometimes they will allow a 
gunner to approach the trees and maybe shoot 
one by one with no more difficulty or excitement 
than robbing a hen roost; but ordinarily they 
are watchful and wary and give the sportsman 
quite enough to do to shoot them in their 
favorite haunts. 
The mode of flight of this species is peculiar. 
Tt rises with a startling w'hirr from the ground 
till it attains a certain elevation. Its straight 
steady course is performed with great velocity 
by alternate sailing and flapping. The wing 
beats are rapid and energetic, giving it an im¬ 
pulse that enables it to sail long distances. When 
the wings are held stiffly expanded to their full 
extent, somewhat curved and with the points of 
the feathers separated, and when a bird is pass¬ 
ing at full speed sufficiently near, one may clearly 
distinguish the whirring sound of its wings as 
well as sometimes the creaking rustle of its tail 
feathers as it turns its flight. These birds lie 
well to the pointer or setter and afford excellent 
sport to the man with the gun. 
John E. New’Some. 
