l82 Bird -Lore January 6. Going through tlie woods I heard the small birds making quite a fuss in the young growth, and on looking for the cause, discovered a Saw-whet Owl in a little hemlock. When 1 first caught sight of him he was sitting on one of the smaller branches ten feet from the ground, apparently asleep, with his back to the trunk and his head tipped back. On being closely ap- proached, he seemed to awake suddenly with a start, at once turn- ing his great round eyes in my direction, and after that, never re- moved them from me for an instant, though I walked around his tree several times. He had a partly eaten white-footed mouse slung across the branch beside him, probably the remains of his breakfast. Most of the small birds contented themselves with chirping at him from the surrounding trees, occasionally approaching to inspect him more closely and then flying off again, but one Red-breasted Nuthatch remained from the first on a twig close to the Owl's head, and kept up a continual harsh rasping cry, as if having some especial cause of complaint against him. A Flicker and some Blue Jays alighted in the neighboring trees, but not seeing anything of im- portance, soon fiew away again. When I shook the tree the Owl merely fluttered a few yards, and lit on a maple sapling just out of my reach. The next time he tried to hide by alighting on the further side of the stem of a pine several inches in diameter, but finding this of no avail, at last took a longer flight off through the woods, where I was unable to follow him. January 28. Heard what I at first took to be the song of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet today, but it proved to be a Black-capped Chickadee, ut- tering what was to me an entirely new note ; like the Kinglet's, only fainter and shorter, with just a little of the ring of the Canary's song in it. He was sitting all alone vmder the dark ever- greens, singing to himself in a manner wholly out of keeping with the general disposition and taste of the Chickadee. When I at last disturbed him, he flew to another tree and began searching for insects, uttering the familiar note of his species. RED-TAILED HAWK
