. The Canadian horticulturist [monthly], 1893. Gardening; Canadian periodicals. i J â â [â ; HIS (listrn i is notable tor the manv different kinds of owls which frequent it. Eleven distinct species are known to orni- thologists here. Some of them are nearly as large as eagles, and occasionally play havoc with our domestic fowls when roosting on trees in the fall of the year. Other kinds are of very small size, and live chiefly on small vermin. The saw- whet is the smallest of all the owls, perhaps the smallest of all birds of prey which visit us here. In many respects he may be regarded as a c
. The Canadian horticulturist [monthly], 1893. Gardening; Canadian periodicals. i J â â [â ; HIS (listrn i is notable tor the manv different kinds of owls which frequent it. Eleven distinct species are known to orni- thologists here. Some of them are nearly as large as eagles, and occasionally play havoc with our domestic fowls when roosting on trees in the fall of the year. Other kinds are of very small size, and live chiefly on small vermin. The saw- whet is the smallest of all the owls, perhaps the smallest of all birds of prey which visit us here. In many respects he may be regarded as a curiosity. The first one I ever saw was when one morning, about thirty years ago, a neighbor called my attention to what he said was a cat-bird killing a pigeon on his barn floor. There I found a little owl grasping with his talons the neck of a blue dove, about three times the owl's size, and nearly dead. It was only by physical force the slayer was compelled to let go his hold. So I slew him in order to procure his skin for preservation, for I strongly suspected him of being the murderer of some of my fine fancy pigeons. Saw-whets are never very numerous hereabout, but last fall a few of them were observed in the orchards in this vicinity. They seem to have little fear of man, or, indeed, of any other animal. For a place of abode in the fall, they seem to prefer an apple tree ; they perch close up to the trunk of the tree and will not fly until closely approached, and then will fly only a short distance. It is well known they do not eat fruit, nor do they hunt for food in the day-time, hence we conclude they are in the orchards for the purpose of preying upon field mice during night-time. In winter they are often seen in barns or other farm buildings ; there, of course, for the double purpose of shelter and food supplies. On the crossbeam of a large barn, I lately saw one of these little owls surrounded by a multitude of English sparrows making a great noise, apparently try
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