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  BIRDS AND NATURE.

  ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY.

  VOL. VIII.         DECEMBER, 1900.          NO. 5.




  CONTENTS.


                                                            Page
  DECEMBER.                                                  193
  THE WESTERN HORNED OWL.                                    194
  THE OWL.                                                   198
  THE LONG-CRESTED JAY.                                      201
  THE SUNRISE SERENADE.                                      202
  A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCES.                                 203
  THE FULVOUS TREE-DUCK.                                     204
  HOW THE SWIFTS CAME TO BUILD IN AUNT DOROTHY'S CHIMNEY.    207
  THE RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER.                                213
  A WHITE TABLE IN THE WOODS.                                214
  THE MOON-BABY.                                             215
  THE CECROPIA AND PROMETHEA MOTHS.                          216
  A PLEA FOR LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION.                         221
  THE DOG AND ITS ANCESTORS.                                 225
  A FAVORITE HAUNT.                                          227
  CARNIVOROUS PLANTS.                                        228
  MAPLE LEAVES.                                              232
  MAY-APPLE.                                                 235
  INDEX.




DECEMBER.


    The lakes of ice gleam bluer than the lakes
    Of water 'neath the summer sunshine gleamed;
    Far fairer than when placidly it streamed,
    The brook its frozen architecture makes,
    And under bridges white its swift way takes.
    Snow comes and goes as messenger who dreamed
    Might linger on the road; or one who deemed
    His message hostile, gently, for their sakes
    Who listened, might reveal it by degrees.
    We gird against the cold of winter wind
    Our loins now with mighty bands of sleep,
    In longest, darkest nights take rest and ease,
    And every shortening day, as shadows creep
    O'er the brief noontide, fresh surprises find.
                                        --Helen Hunt Jackson


    Best of all, old King December,
    Laughs beside the burning ember,
    With his children round his knees,
    And a look of jovial ease.
    He is crowned Lord of Misrule--
    Here's his Queen, and there's his fool.
    He is wreathed with frosty green,
    And ever the gay song between
    "Wassail!" shouts he, "health to all!"
    And re-echoes the old hall.--
                          Kind December!
                              --Walter Thornbury, "The Twelve Brothers."

Copyright, 1900, by A. W. Mumford.




THE WESTERN HORNED OWL.

(_Bubo virginianus subarcticus._)

"Bird of the silent wing and expansive eye, grimalkin in feathers,
feline, mousing, haunting ruins and towers, and mocking the midnight
stillness with thy uncanny cry."--_John Burroughs, Birds and Poets._


Among the birds of prey (Raptores) none are better known, more written
about or more cosmopolitan than that nocturnal division (Family
Strigidae), which includes the two hundred or more species of Owls.
From the Arctic regions of the north to the Antarctic regions of the
south they are known. Most of the genera are represented in both
hemispheres, though eight are peculiar to the Old World and three to
the New. The majority of the species finds a home in the forests,
though a few live in marshes and on the plains. Some invade the
buildings of civilization and may be found in the unfrequented towers
of churches and in outbuildings.

Disliked by all birds its appearance during the day is the signal for a
storm of protests and, knowing that there is little need of fear of his
power at this time, they flock about him, pecking and teasing him till
he is obliged to retreat to his obscure roosting place.

The Owls in most countries of both the New World as well as the Old are
regarded as birds of ill omen and messengers of woe, and are protected
from harm by some uncivilized and superstitious peoples, some believing
that spirits of the wicked reside in their bodies. By others they have
been called "Devil's Birds." The belief of some unlearned people in the
close relationship of the Owl with death and the grave dates back at
least to the time of Shakespeare, who speaks of the Owl's hoot as "A
song of death." Among the ancient races only the Athenians seem not to
have possessed this popular fear and superstition. They venerated the
Owl and regarded it as the favorite bird of Minerva. On the other hand
the Romans looked upon the Owl with fear and detestation, dreading its
appearance as the embodiment of all evil and the omen of unfortunate
events to come. By them the Owl was consecrated to Proserpine, the wife
of Hades and queen of the underworld. Pliny tells us that the city of
Rome underwent a solemn cleansing because of the visit of one of these
birds. When the unearthly character of their cries and their quiet,
spirit-like motion, as they fly through the night hours, are taken
into consideration, it is not surprising that they have been and are
held in awe and dread by many people. The characteristics of the two
sexes are practically the same, except that the female is somewhat the
larger. The young resemble the adults, but are usually darker in color.
Excepting those species that are whitish in color, the Owls are usually
a mixture of black, brown, rufous gray, yellow and white, and barring
is common on the wings and tail. Their bills are blackish, dusky or
yellowish. Their eyes are so fixed that they have little power of
turning the eye-balls and thus are obliged to turn the head when they
wish to change their range of vision. This they do with great rapidity,
in fact, the motion is so rapid that without close observation the bird
seems to turn its head in one direction for several revolutions if the
object looked at passes around the perch upon which the Owl rests.
A remarkable characteristic is the reversible fourth toe or digit,
enabling the Owl to perch with either one or two toes behind.

  [Illustration: WESTERN HORNED OWL.
                 (Bubo virginianus subarcticus.)
                 About 1/3 Life-size.
                 FROM COL. F. M. WOODRUFF
                 COPYRIGHT 1900, BY
                 A. W. MUMFORD, CHICAGO.]

Mr. Evans tells us that "the note varies from a loud hoot to a low,
muffled sound or a clear, musical cry; the utterance of both young and
adults being in some cases a cat-like mew, while the screech-owl
snores when stationary. The hoot is said to be produced by closing the
bill, puffing out the throat, and then liberating the air, a proceeding
comparable to that of the Bitterns. On the whole the voice is mournful
and monotonous, but occasionally it resembles a shrill laugh." The
utterances of the Owls are, however, quite various