GREAT HORNED OWLS 329 



set up a powerful screaming on the edge of the grove, and 

 the crows went after him in full chorus, as he beat a retreat. 

 Next we heard quacking and the whistling of wings, as four 

 Black Ducks passed over our heads, just above the tree-tops. 

 After circling a number of times, they alighted over beyond 

 the grove in an overflowed meadow and alder swamp, where 

 they are accustomed to breed. 



These sights and sounds of nature diverted our minds, 

 until at the end of forty-five minutes we were startled by 

 a loud, incisive note, which sounded to me like " waup-p," 

 ending in a sort of snap, the whole having a rising inflection. 

 Immediately the great owl glided in, and with an upward 

 swoop alighted on a limb only a few rods from the nest, in 

 plain sight of us. Splendid great bird, she stood two feet 

 high, ear-tufts erect, eyes round and blazing, turning the fine 

 head uneasily from side to side. In about a minute she flew, 

 gliding downward as she left the branch, uttering, just as 

 she started, another " waup-p," which fairly made us jump. 

 Thus she flitted majestically from perch to perch, distrusting 

 the camera and focus-cloth, which certainly made a very 

 conspicuous object up there in the tree-top against the sky. 

 By this time some crows had discovered the owl, and were 

 following her about, swooping at her head now and then 

 with angry caws. The great bird disdained to give them any 

 attention, save that now and then, when one came too close, 

 she snapped her bill angrily. 



During one of her flights she alighted very near us. Fear- 

 ing discovery, we kept perfectly still, and she did not detect 

 us through the branches. Then she flew to a perch nearer to 

 the nest, then farther off, but suddenly she sailed up and 

 alighted on a forked branch close to the nest, when I imme- 

 diately pulled the thread. The sun was slightly overcast, and 

 I had set the shutter for about a fifth of a second, with the 



