"Night wanderer," as this species of Owl has been appropriately called,
appears to be peculiar to America. They are quite scarce in the south,
but above the Falls of the Ohio they increase in number, and are
numerous in Virginia, Maryland, and all the eastern districts. Its
flight, like that of all the owl family, is smooth and noiseless. He may
be sometimes seen above the topmost branches of the highest trees in
pursuit of large beetles, and at other times he sails low and swiftly
over the fields or through the woods, in search of small birds, field
mice, moles, or wood rats, on which he chiefly subsists.
The Screech Owl's nest is built in the bottom of a hollow trunk of a
tree, from six to forty feet from the ground. A few grasses and feathers
are put together and four or five eggs are laid, of nearly globular form
and pure white color. This species is a native of the northern regions,
arriving here about the beginning of cold weather and frequenting the
uplands and mountain districts in preference to the lower parts of the
country.
In the daytime the Screech Owl sits with his eyelids half closed, or
slowly and alternately opening and shutting, as if suffering from the
glare of day; but no sooner is the sun set than his whole appearance
changes; he becomes lively and animated, his full and globular eyes
shine like those of a cat, and he often lowers his head like a cock when
preparing to fight, moving it from side to side, and also vertically, as
if watching you sharply. In flying, it shifts from place to place "with
the silence of a spirit," the plumage of its wings being so extremely
fine and soft as to occasion little or no vibration of the air.
The Owl swallows its food hastily, in large mouthfuls. When the retreat
of a Screech Owl, generally a hollow tree or an evergreen in a retired
situation, is discovered by the Blue Jay and some other birds, an alarm
is instantly raised, and the feathered neighbors soon collect and by
insults and noisy demonstration compel his owlship to seek a lodging
elsewhere. It is surmised that this may account for the circumstance of
sometimes finding them abroad during the day on fences and other exposed
places.
Both red and gray young are often found in the same nest, while the
parents may be both red or both gray, the male red and the female gray,
or vice versa.
The vast numbers of mice, beetles, and vermin which they destroy render
the owl a public benefactor, much as he has been spoken against for
gratifying his appetite for small birds. It would be as reasonable to
criticise men for indulging in the finer foods provided for us by the
Creator. They have been everywhere hunted down without mercy or justice.
During the night the Screech Owl utters a very peculiar wailing cry, not
unlike the whining of a puppy, intermingled with gutteral notes. The
doleful sounds are in great contrast with the lively and excited air of
the bird as he utters them. The hooting sound, so fruitful of "shudders"
in childhood, haunts the memory of many an adult whose earlier years,
like those of the writer, were passed amidst rural scenery.