Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-01-19


Later on it will be no uncommon thing
to find them in flocks Of ten or dozen.
II you had flushed three pheasants as
those three owls were flushed, the noise
OF their wings could have been heard
for half mile, as you well know. You
might scare up three hundred of these
owls at once, and they would make
scarcely any more noise than so many
butterflies. Ghostly silence in flight
characterizes all species of owls. Hawks
fly noiselessly, too. These birds de-
pend on stealth in seeking their prey.
1t won't do for them to have any rustic
about their hunting. There is another
peculiar thing about the long-eared
owl. If you find them on a piece of
stubblc you will not find any other
game bird there. and, of course, if you
find quail you needn't look for owls.
The only way that l can explain that
fact is that the owl knows instinctively
that the game bird is liable to be
hunted, and that consequently he can
hunt his own mice more securely if he
goes where the quail do not come. The
long-eared owl is a favorite with col
lectors, its coat OF cream color and
brown feathers seeming to be especially
admired
"'The rarest of all owls are the hawk
owl, the snowy owl and the long-eared
owl. The hawk owl l never saw in
Pennsylvania, but l have shot it in
Eastern New York and Connecticut
There is little owl called the sawet,
which is sometimes plen tiful and some
times scarce. They are blind as bats
in the day time, and when dawn APP
proaches they 60 to roost in the first
place they come to. Consequently we
often see them sitting on fence rails,
window stills, gate posts and house
roofs, just as we'll as in the woods. 1t
is no new trick to knock them over with
stick at such times. There is q Curl
GUS thing about the day-blind owls,
and that is that they are all summer
owls and go south on the approach OF
cold weather.
1.-the great snow owl commands the
highest price from collectors. have
sold especially fine specimens for twenty
dollars each. The boot owl, or horned
owl. is also highly priced. 1t remains
in this latitude all winter.
"Owls have peculiar way of eating.
They swallow their food, bones and all.
By some process the bones, fur and
feathers are all rolled up in small balls
in the owls stomach. Some species of
hawk take their food and eject their
refuse in the same way. When / was a
boy it was great sport for me to search
in the woods to find trees under which
1 could discover their elected balls.
That was q sure indication that a
rough-legged hawk or some species Of
owl made that tree its roosting place.
Taking a long pole and fastening on
one end stout steel trap, would bait
the trap with some mouse the birds
were fond Of, and then push the trap
up in the branches of the tree and tic
the pole fast seldom failed to find a
hawk or an owl fast in the trap
when l went to look after it. Once
captured magnificent snowy owl in
that way. He was uninj ured excep
where the trap held its leg. After {
great struggle-for a wounded ow
is one of the worst customers to fool
with in the woods--I tied his legs to-
gether and his great wings down ant
started proudly homeward with my
prize. / carried with me an old single
barreled gun. The time was in the fall
and on my way home laid the owl on
the ground while stopped to gather
some hickory nuts. While thus en-
gagged discovered a number of yellow.
| Jackets going in and out of hole in
the ground. knew at once that tn,
hole was the entrance to nest of thes,
4 lively insects. | took my gun and
going close to the hole, fired into 1t ant
took to my heels. Looking back afte
l had run safe distance, l saw tn,
yelIow-jackets swarming angrily on
of their dismantled home. The sount
of the gun had startled the owl. and i
had fluttered about, bound as it was
That futter was fatal to it. The savag,
bees saw the movement, and settled
down on the helpless bird until his Goa
was as yellow as gold. Wherever tn
creatures could find spot to sink
singer they sank one, and in spite o
its bonds the poor owl rolled and tum
bled about in agony. reloaded m,
gun and, creeping up behind fallel
tree, until was near enough almost T.
touch the owl with the end of my gul
barrel, / shot its head Of, thus losing
my great prize through my boyish mis-
chief.
ut is the rule, believe, to condemn
all hawks and owls as destructive ma
rauders of either the farm or woods
proving on innocent and useful mem
bers of the feathered tribe entirely. S
general was that impression in Penn
sylvania that few years ago larg
bounty was placed by law on the head
of hawks and owls. But investigation
has shown that this idea is fallaciou
one, and so conclusively was it show
in the State that at the last session {
the Legislature the law placing hawk
and owls under the ban with pric
on their beads was repealed. TIL
cruel sparrow hawk of the poet nevt
touches sparrow. The marsh hawk
that semi-nocturnal prowler, so drcade
by the farmer simply because of ii
) tradition that he is constantly preyin
. from before dsybreak until late |
: night on insectivorous and domest
| birds entirely. never hunts any Thin
but meadow mice and the rodents tn
. prowl about outbuildings, and he IS Il
most successful nlouSer in the world.