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     The Great Horned Owl (Bubo Virginianus) is a huge, dark-colored owl of the primitive 
     
     forest, two feet in length and four feet in extent of wings, conspicuously marked 
     
    

    
     by two large tufts of feathers which stand erect on its head like great ears. it 
     
     sometimes comes about farm houses, robbing poultry yards, and making night hideous 
     
     with its dismal hooting. These great birds lay but two eggs in the naked hollow of 
     
     a tree. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Screech Owl is a miniature Bubo and not half the size of Virginianus. it is 
     
     strictly nocturnal and unable to stand the light of day. Like other owls in this 
     
     respect it is a great destroyer of mice, in search of which it comes into barns. 
     
     The Great Grey Owl is a winter bird of the lonely forest of a larger size even than 
     
     the Great Horned Owl. The Barred Owl is a smaller bird much resembling the last. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Hawk Owl (Surnia funerea) is a small-sized, trimly-formed bird much resembling 
     
     a hawk both in its general appearance and diurnal habits. 
     
    
   
   
    
     The smallest of the family is the Acadian, or Saw-whet Owl, a grey and brown-plumed 
     
     little fellow eight inches in length. Its most peculiar characteristic is its call 
     
     note of Kook, kook, sounded continuously during the still hours of calm, clear moon- 
     
     lit nights, in March and April. The constant and regular repetition of this single 
     
     note, echoing through the rigid forest, sounds like the toiling of a bell, ringing 
     
     out its steady pee] on the starlit brilliancy of the crystal scene. This curious 
     
     little bird nests in the hollow of a tree, laying five or six white eggs. Like most 
     
    
   
   
    
     other Owls, it nests in April, having its young well advanced when the summer's 
     
     struggle begins. 
     
    
   
   
    
     - Francis Bain 
     
     “Birds of Prince Edward Island“ 
     
     l89l 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     EDITORS NOTE 
     
    
   
   
    
     Owls are quite a challenge to observe because of their nocturnal and secretive habits. 
     
     Bain was a keen observer and would probably have not missed many Species especially 
     
     owls active during the daytime like the Short-eared owl. Hence we can suspect 
     
    

    
     that there have been changes in owl species on P.E.l. over the last 100 years. 
     
     Probably, we have lost two Species, Screech Owls and Great Grey Owls and gained three 
     
     new ones, Long-eared and Short-eared Owls (both of which have been known to nest 
     
    
   
   
    
     here) and the rare Boreal Owl. Some of these changes may be related to changes in 
     
     habitat. 
     
    
   
   
    
     - Kathy Martin