The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-09-19

terlnR sound noG Unlike bnat ol
prairie dog, starts and skins swiftly
over the plain toward a certain bur-
row from which it has ousted the law
full occupants. Down it goes into the
depths, and you could not get it out
with burglars jimmy. It is said to
feed on field mice and crickets, but
there is a suspicion in the minds of
old frontiersmen that timely autopsy
would disclose the presence of young
and tender prairie dog.
In the latter days Of August it sud-
denly disappears. Nobody has ever
been able to find out where it goes.
The Indians, who are close observers,
aver that it spends the winter in tor
por.
Those who have travelled through
the woody hills of Massachusetts are
familiar with the Acadian owl, famil-
iarly known as the s'saw-whet." Its
love notes bear a startling resemblance
to the fling of large sow. It is a
SOFT fluffy looking object, and how it
manages to make such harsh notes is
a wonder. Many a man while travel
ing along country road listening to
the love-making of these birds has
fancied himself in the vicinity of a
sawmill Another popularity of the
''saw-whet" is the snoring notes of its
young. The little downy chaps sit in
their nest and snore away for hours
with their eyes wide open. It may be
that they are only endeayoring to
give expression to their hunger.
When calling to each other the voice
of the "saw-whet" is almost exactly
like bell.
Everybody familiar with country
life has heard the long, quavering
scream of the screech owl. For bird
30 small and insignificant its voice is
tremendous. It has the unpleasant
habit of doing the wrong things at the
right time. Take your best girl for q
walk in the woods in the cleaning
and note the result. Just when ST.
lence is busily engaged in speaking
louder than words from right over.
head there will arise q scream like that
of lost soul. If you have never
heard the sound before it is likely
that you will dc hundred yards in
even time. It is only the love note Of
the screech owl, and is the only way
he has of expressing tender emotion.
If by chance you catch the little fel-
low in your hand you will find that it
can express something else besides
emotion. 1t clatters its beak like
small castanets and Kisses and bites
with great vigor. Its plumage is soft
and downy, and notified brown. Its
eyes are large and keen, and its facial
disks yellowish white.
Every dog has its day, and every
well regulated barn has its owl. At
least this pertains to barns in the
Eastern States. The barn owl is the
bully of it's tribe. It has an especial
weakness for chickens of the spring
variety, and it shows its wisdom in
taking up it's abode near its prospec-
tive larder. 1t also pays strict atten-
tion to mice, squirrels and other small
animals. It is never found far in the
woods. This owl, when wing broken,
becomes a great bully and blowhard.
On approach it Kisses like goose,
swells out its plumage and blinks its
great eyes imposingly, although it is
doubtful if it can see to any extent in
the daylight. Its plumage is grayish
brown on the upper parts, interspersed
with yellowish red, produced by mi
mute nothing.
The owl that we are most thor
oughly acquainted with, whose cries
we have heard most frequently in the
woods at night, is the barred owl. If
it's language is translated correctly it
is very inquisitive bird. Walk out
into the woods on moonlight night,
and you are sure to be greeted with,
"Who-who. who-who, who.ar-r.r-e