244 BARRED OWL.
considerable distance, after which its whah-ichah-whah is uttered with
considerable pomposity. This owl will answer the imitation of its own
sounds, and is frequently decoyed by this means.
The flight of the Barred Owl is smooth, light, noiseless, and capable
of being greatly protracted. I have seen them take their departure
from a detached grove in a prairie, and pursue a direct course towards
the skirts of the main forest, distant more than two miles, in broad daylight.
I have thus followed them with the eye until they were lost in
the distance, and have reason to suppose that they continued their flight
until they reached the woods. Once, whilst descending the Ohio, not
far from the well-known Cave-in-rock, about two hours before sunset, in
the month of November, I saw a Barred Owl teased by several crows, and
chased from the tree in which it was. On leaving the tree, it gradually
rose in the air, in the manner of a Hawk, and at length attained so great
a height that our party lost sight of it. It acted, I thought, as if it
had lost itself, now and then describing small circles, and flapping its
wings quickly, then flying in zigzag lines. This being so uncommon an
occurrence, I noted it down at the time. I felt anxious to see the bird
return towards the earth, but it did not make its appearance again. So
very lightly do they fly, that I have frequently discovered one passing
over me, and only a few yards distant, by first seeing its shadow on
the ground, during clear moon-light nights, when not the faintest rustling
of its wings could be heard.
Their power of sight during the day seems to be rather of an equivocal
character, as I once saw one alight on the back of a cow, which it
left so suddenly afterwards, when the cow moved, as to prove to me that
it had mistaken the object on which it had perched for something else.
At other times, I have observed that the approach of the grey squirrel
intimidated them, if one of these animals accidentally jumped on a branch
close to them, although the Owl destroys a number of them during the
twilight. It is for this reason, kind reader, that I have represented the
Barred Owl gazing in amazement at one of the squirrels placed only a
few inches from him.
The Barred Owl is a great destroyer of poultry, particularly of
chickens when half-grown. It also secures mice, young hares, rabbits,
and many species of small birds, but is especially fond of a kind of frog
of a brown colour, very common in the woods of Louisiana. I have
heard it asserted that this bird catches fish, but never having seen it do
BARRED OWL. 24.)
so, and never having found any portion of fish in its stomach. I cannot
vouch for the truth of the report.
About the middle of March, these Owls begin to lay their eggs.
This they usually do in the hollows of trees, on the dust of the decomposed
wood. At other times they take possession of the old nest of a
Crow or a Red-tailed Hawk. In all these situations I have found their
eggs and young. The eggs are of a globular form, pure white, with a
smooth shell, and are from four to six in number. So far as I have been
able to ascertain, they rear only one brood in a season. The young,
like those of all other Owls, are at first covered with a downy substance,
some of which is seen intermixed with and protruding from the feathers,
some weeks after the bird is nearly fledged. They are fed by the
parents for a long time, standing perched, and emitting a hissing noise
in lieu of a call. This noise may be heard in a calm night, for fifty or
probably a hundred yards, and is by no means musical. To a pers »n
lost in a swamp, it is, indeed, extremely dismal.
The plumage of the Barred Owl differs very considerably, in respect
to colour, in different individuals, more so among the males. The males
are also smaller than the females, but less so than in some other species
During the severe winters of our Middle Districts, those that remain
there suffer very much ; but the greater number, as in some other species,
remove to the Southern States. When kept in captivity, they prove ex
cellent mousers.
The antipathy shewn to Owls by every species of day bird is extreme.
They are followed and pursued on all occasions ; and although few of
the day birds ever prove dangerous enemies, their conduct towards the
Owls is evidently productive of great annoyance to them. When the
Barred Owl is shot at and wounded, it snaps its bill sharply and frequently,
raises all its feathers, looks towards the person in the most uncouth
manner, but, on the least chance of escape, moves off in great
leaps with considerable rapidity.
The Barred Owl is very often exposed for sale in the New Orleans
market. The Creoles make gumbo of it, and pronounce the flesh palatable.