GREAT HORNED OWLS 



331 



drifts remained, and the sprinkle of snow which had fallen 

 the night before was fast disappearing, A neighbor's boy 

 went with me to the nest ; the owl was on it. I had feared 

 for her safety, as a man 

 had been chopping not far 

 away, and I was afraid that 

 he would discover her. This 

 was one case to show that 

 the faculty of observation 

 is not always desirable ! 

 First, now, I wanted a flight 

 picture. So I aimed the re- 

 flex camera at the nest and 

 had the boy kick the tree. 

 Off went the owl, northward, 

 as she always did. She was 

 very quick and I too slow, 

 for I got only part of her 

 image on the plate ! 



As before, I set the camera up in the tree ; then I dismissed 

 the boy, and hid in my bower, keeping tally on a sheet of 

 paper of all the sights and sounds of nature. This time there 

 was constantly " something doing," and for three hours I was 

 busy. Both owls were hooting and flying about, the crows 

 were excited. Flickers and Hairy Woodpeckers were drum- 

 ming, drilling their nests, and making love, and there were 

 other happenings. My vigil began four minutes before noon. 

 In thirteen minutes the male owl began his tuneful songs 

 from the same place as before. It took the female forty-six 

 minutes to begin her usual whines, or " waupps." This 

 ushered in her usual performance of "monkeying," until 

 at the end of an hour and twelve minutes she suddenly — 

 before I realized it — had alighted on her nest, and I scored 



STOOPING OVER TO CARESS HER OWLET" 



