Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-05-01


probably the most abundant bird Of
the whole own family. Apparently It;
is not afraid Of man, though he often;
abuses the confidence which the little!
bird shows in him. The screech owl
comes about the house and watches!
for the mice which the house cat has,
overlooked. II there be an entrance;
through the clap boards leading to.
some weatherproof nook within. the
little owl will frequently take up his
residence as mans near neighbor.
The screech owl is destroyer Of
quantities of insect pests. It has q
marked fondness for grasshoppers, a
fact which should endear 1t to the
farmer. People are not apt to think
of owls as being insectivorous. bu,
the smaller ones. like our friend Me-
gascops, not only have keen appetites
for grasshoppers, but they like des-
sert Of beetles, spiders and at times
worms. Mice are on their daily menu,
and lizards and cray fish do not come
amiss. Occasionally they will eat
song bird or two, but this habit is not
marked.
There is popularity about the
plumage of screech owls. In the same
| nest may be found birds differing so
completely in color that it seems al
most impossible that they should be
children of the same parents. The
popularity exists even more striking.
ly in the adults. Some Of the birds
are gray and others are bright brown,
almost red in fact, and between the
extremes Of coloration there are to
! be found specimens whose plumage
varies between the two hues. For
years it was believed that the gray
and the red owls formed two distinct
species. The great ornithologists.
Audubon, Wilson and Nuttall, treated
the red and gray phases Of this bird
as two distinct speoies.S Frank M.
Chapman says Of this popularity Of
the screech owl: "This difference in
color is not due to age, sex or sea-
son. and is termed dichromatism or
the presence In the same species 81
two phases of color. The same phe-
nomenon is shown by other birds,
notably certain herons. and among
mammals by the gray squirrel. some
individuals of which are black.
The saw-whet owl (NyctA1a acadica)
is small bird, like it, brother the
screech owl, and to the unfamiliar
eye is not unlike him in it, plumage
Ordinarily, however, the saw-whei
shuns mans company. The blackel
the woods the better this little might
hunter likes them for his day time re
treat. He is an inveterate mouser and
he hunts his quarry on noiseless wing
from sunset to sunrise. This owl re
ceived it's name, saw-whet, from the
popularity Of its note which is sup
posed to resemble the noise made b!
the filing of saw. The name doe
injustice to the quality Of the bird''
voice, for in the spring time whel
love Is afoot," the notes are not un
musical
1t has been said that the saw-whe
does not care for mans company. Dc
casionally he forgets his dislike, o
his fear whichever it Is, and come
4 into the great cities. His urban res
dence is confined principally to tn
winter time when mice are hard to b
found in the fields and when the mu
4 titude OF English sparrows in the cit
a streets offers temptation too stron
a to be resisted.
a Until recently the demands Of fasl
a ion made sad inroads into the ON
a ranks. Thousands upon thousands {
a screech and saw-whet owls and not
q few of the larger species were sacr
a feed to meet the millinery deman,
4 There was a protest made against til
q slaughter of the creatures, but It Wa
met by the dealers statements tn,
owls were Injurious birds and that Il
! everyone killed the world was SO muc
che better oil. Fashion, with thoi