Evening star., 1944-02-04
This and That
By Charles E. TrdceiOeli
"CLYDESDALE PLACE

"CLYDESDALE PLACE"
Dear Sir:
Many times lately at night in the
Zoo woods near the Adams Mill road
gate an owl gives prolonged serenade
in deep throaty hooting. 1t is intrigu-
ing to listen to it,
"Bluebirds are in the park, too and
they are beautiful. Many have already
been seen. Also yellow -bellied sap
suckers. some f1ickers, and few days
ago a red-headed woodpecker. Isn't
that unusual for this time Of the year?
"At our window sill feeding station
we have almost daily our regulars-the
titmice, chickadees, nuthatches and
cardinals; usually, too, the big mocking-
bird and occasionally juncos and downy
Woodpeckers. One small regular is a
chickadee with club foot, but he doesn't
let it get him down. He gets all he
wants to eat of the seed and he is very
cheerful about it, too
One night recently about 9 pm. as
l emerged from an apartment house
near here I saw an owl, vague gray
shadow which swept across the street
and into the woods. His wing spread
must have been all of two feet, I Judge
I have wondered if he is the splendid
hooter who has been serenading us so
consistently lately.
Very truly yours, E. A. c."
Eight owls have been identified in
the Washington district.
These include the barn owl, the long
cared owl, the short-eared owl, the
barred owl, the saw-whet owl, the screech
owl. the great horned owl and the snowy
owl
1t may be realized that some of these
are very uncommon.
The little screech owl is fairly COM
mon permanent resident, as is the barred
owl.
The barn owl is no longer common,
but is sometimes SEEN For many years
it nested in the towers of the Smith
sonian Institution. At one time they
were numerous on Analostan Island.
X
The screech owl is the most pleasant
small owl, although many persons pro-
fess to find the odd cry distasteful.
Both gray and red phases occur in
the same brood. Ornithologists tell us
that the cry is not screech, in any
real sense, but rather series of soft
quavering notes uttered in a descending
scale
Once listener in the night gets over
the slight first shock of hearing it, he
will discover that the strange cries have
their appeal.
This owl ranges from six to 10 inches
in length, with very good wing spread.
At nesting time it sometimes brings in
small birds, but during the rest of the
year feeds on mice and insects. Thus
it may be held as doing mankind a
service.
Sometimes the females attain length
of 10 inches.
Really the smallest owl is the saw
whet owl the common names comes
from the cry, resembling a saw which
never gets larger than 8L2 inches. It's
a plump English sparrow. With good
feeding, by the way, the common SPAR
row often becomes fairly large bird.
On moonlight nights an entire family
of screech owls will spend their time
in catching June bugs and moths, dartH
ing out like kingbirds.
The great horned owl is the common
hoot owl. In some sections of the coun-
try it is known as the big cat owl
This is big one, and feeds upon
rabbits, mice, fish and large insects
and also upon game birds and poultry
Because of the taste for the latter,
it is generally classed as inimical to
mans interests. Experts declare that
it is the only owl, with the exception
OF the snowy, which ought to be re-
garded as hostile to man.
The barred owl sometimes is called
the hoot owl. This one often flies
around in the daytime.
Despite the popular belief that owls,
as a class, are more or. less blind in
daylight, practically all Of the species
can see very well In sunlight.