SEPTEMBER, 1917 
FOREST AND STREAM 
407 
AQUATIC AND RAPACIOUS BIRDS 
SOME COMMOM SPECIES THAT ARE OFTEN 
MALIGNED BECAUSE MISUNDERSTOOD 
By HUBERT HATTON 
Illustrated by courtesy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. # 
VI. Killdeer 
Oxyechus vociferus, or killdeer, is one of 
the best known of American birds. Its 
Killdeer, destroyer of harmful insects 
loud and penetrating call of “kill-dee! kill- 
dee !” from which its common name is 
taken, is familiar to all. This bird nests 
throughout the United States and Canada. 
It is a great destroyer of harmful insects, 
being a competent aid to agriculture, and 
there is no logical reason for continuing to 
regard it as a game bird, according to Mr. 
McAtee. 
i 
Screech-owl, which preys on rodents 
VII. Screech Owl 
Otus asio, or screech owl, ranges from 
coast to coast and far beyond both the 
southern and northern boundaries of the 
United States. Doctor Fisher finds that “as 
nearly three-fourths of the owl’s food con¬ 
sists of injurious mammals and insects, 
and only about one-seventh of birds (a 
large proportion of which are destructive 
English sparrows) there is no question that 
this little ov^l should be carefully protect¬ 
ed.” 
VIII. Black Tern 
Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis, or 
black tern, has a widely varied list of food 
for its menu. It is found by the Govern¬ 
ment authorities that this bird “preys upon 
no food fishes, as far as known, but does 
feed extensively upon such fish enemies as 
dragon-fly nymphs, dytiscid beetles, and 
crawfishes. It takes a great variety of in¬ 
sects, including some of economic impor¬ 
tance, as the moth of the cotton bollworm 
and the fall army worm, click be.etles 
(adults of wireworms), weevils, and grass¬ 
hoppers.” 
EXPERIENCESAVITH OWLS 
HE story of the boy and the owl is an 
old one, but the story the writer has 
to tell is different from the “Who are 
you?” variety. Forty feet up in a pine 
tree a big nest had been discovered and tell¬ 
tale feathers on the rim showed that the 
cradle was occupied. So early in the 
Spring, it must be the home of a great 
horned owl thought the youth, and, elated 
over his find, he quickly started to climb 
to the big collection of sticks. 
When he reached a height where his eyes 
were on a level with the top of the nest, 
a sight greeted him which nearly caused 
him to lose his hold on the branches. A 
great white downy thing, nearly as big as 
a full grown owl and with eyes much too 
large for its bulk, suddenly arose onto its 
feet and approached to the edge of the 
nest, setting up a hissing mingled with a 
loud snapping of its bill. 
Scarcely had this “youngster” set up his 
complaint when two full-grown owls, 
strong of wind, swooped close to the head 
of the would-be naturalist, keeping up an 
even more ominous snapping than the 
owlet. The trip that the boy made to the 
ground was a rapid one. And he did not 
rob the nest. 
A little later we found two fuzzy-looking 
owlets on the ground in the woods. The 
parent birds hooted their anxiety from a 
nearby tree. These were of the great 
horned variety, too. But young birds would 
make fine pets, and the discoverer went 
after a bag to carry them home in. On his 
return the birds were nowhere to be seen; 
neither were their parents. Those young 
owls could not fly, and how the old birds 
got them away was always a puzzle to the 
writer. 
-aaESjaSMBa, 
Black tern. He preys upon no food fishes, as far as known 
