Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-05-31
THE ScREEcH OWL.
He Is an Interesting Bird and Renders
Valuable Service.
43.

ValuapIo Service.
Order, Raptores; Genus, Magas-
cops family, Rubonidae; species,
Asio.
Whether listening to what Frank
M. Chapman has called "the storm
beaten wall Of the screech OWL" or
considering the fearsome interest he
has for the negro, on account of his
association with "hants,'' or taking
the viewpoint Of science, the screech
owl may claim to hold his own in in
terest with any bird that flies.
In the colonial days Indians MINI
licked the cry Of this owl when steal
ing on the settlements, but the set
tiers learned to tell the difference
between the cry of screech owl and
the call Of an Indian by the simple
fact that the owls cry had no echo.
The Indian could not avoid the echo
try as he would.
In length screech owls vary from
$50 to 10 inches, the female being
| slightly larger In color they are
bichromatic, that Is, have two dis
tinct color markings, red and gray.
Birds Of the same brood have been
known to exhibit both colors, the one
grey, the other red. For a long time
| they were regarded as two different
birds, even so acute and distinguish
ed an observer as John James Aud
ubon being deceived by them.
Tho nf ha
cops (gres looking) most admirably
describes their appearance They lay
their four or five eggs in an old hol-
low or deserted woodpeckers nest,
the eggs being snow-white and some
what glossy.
Three centuries before the Chris
tian era Aristotle studied the screech
| owl and recorded his observations
thus Che called it Noctua, or night
bird.)
The Noctuae, Cicumae and the
rest, which can not see by day, OBJ
tain their food by seeking 1t at
night; and yet they do not do this
all night long, only at eventide and
dawn. They hunt, moreover, mice,
lizards and scorpions, and small
beasts Of the like kind. All other
birds flock round the Noctua, or as
men say admire, and flying at 1t, buf-
| fet 1t. Wherefore, this being its ma
lure, fowlers catch with 1t many and
different kinds Of little birds" The
italian fowlers use this device today
to lure and destroy small birds.
a nj or 10
screech owl or Noctua can not see by
day; he can see by day all right, al
| though his nature Is to move at night
when his prey is abroad.
1t Is most fortunate circumstance
for the human race that this Is the
case. The moths usually fly at night;
only few move in daylight and most
| or these are crepuscular, that Is, twl-
light dwellers, either before sunrise or
after sunrise. Most birds are daylight
beings, retiring to roost on the ap-
proach of night, whereby many of the
worst insect pests would be left un-
molested but for the shadowy forms
OF the screech owl, the chuck-will's-
widow and the whippoorwill that pa
troll the kingdom of the dark and deep
order in the sleeping world.
l reckoned 1t among Gods chief
| blessings to me that He has permit
ted me to understand owls, at least
to a small extent enough to know
them for what they are worth to the
human race. That wonderful eye,
that can hold all the light there Is
and which is provided with a nictitat-
ing membrane to slide back and forth
on its surface, the noiseless flight,
made possible. by the softest feather
| ing of any bird on earth, and the
great talons, all constitute mechan-
ism that honors the hand of the AL
mighty that fashioned 1t.
| The flash Of light, the rush Of the
storm, the meteor coursing over the
heavens, all are necessary to convey
ideas of how swift Is the dash OF the
owl on its prey.
The service rendered by the screech
owl to man is of the highest value for
many reasons. He wages war on the
noctuidae, moths, whose progeny Is
| the dreaded cutworm, and by catch
| ing the moth, he forestalls the dam
age. There are many other moths,
whose offspring do immense damage
and the screech owl Is the consist
ent enemy OF them all.
He is also a grasshopper catcher OF
renown and helped stop the great
plague out west, already referred to.
From 35 to SO grasshoppers make
meal for a screech owl and half again
as many noctuid moths, If they can
| be had
| Like all owls the screech owl is
q great mouse and rat killer. 1t Is
a habit Of owls never to let mouse
or rat pass them, whether they are
hungry or not. They will catch and
kill the rodent and let 1t die, II they
do not need it for food for them
selves or young. This Is a trait of
H., he oh In nf a
spread Of mice.
| 1t is probable that screech owls re-
main mated during life and as they
do not migrate they become attached
| to a place and will remain there un-
less disturbed.
They are also the most abundant
species of owl, occurring almost ev-
erywhere and hence are in position
to render immense service to the
country The killing Of screech
owl does damage to an entire COM
munity and this act can not be TOO
stronly condemned.
| In his summary of the contents Of
their stomachs, Prof. A. K. Fisher OF
the biological survey gives the fol-
lowing:
Two hundred and ffty-fve stom-,
lachs examined. "One contained
poultry. SO other birds, chiefly Eng
| lish sparrows, the well known intro
duced pest; 81 had been eating mice:
II other animals; 100 insects; 81 had
been eating an assorted diet of liz
ards, scorpions, fish, spiders, craw-
fish, etc, and 43 stomachs were
empty" ~
In taking an occasional bird, or
once in long time, or eating a small
chicken Ca very rare occurrence) the
screech owl merely acts according 10
his necessity. When feeding his
young or when his food supply be-
comes usually scarce, he resorts to
such a practice, Immediately going
back to his proper food when 1t can
| be had.
He is worthy all consideration and
unlimited protection, even If he does
once in a while lapse from virtue. We
NAV fall back on Portals observation
OF Shylock:
Though justice be thy plea. con-
| slider this: that in the course or JUS.
tice none of us would see salvation.
lanes Henry Rice, Jr.