THE BIRD OF NIGHT 



was that I went with him on April second to try to 

 photograph the owl, which was quite tame. Getting 

 ready my reflecting camera to snap her as she flew, I 

 advanced toward the nest, when, to my astonishment, 

 a Red-shouldered Hawk flew out, too far off for a 

 picture. My friend was perfectly dumfounded, for he 

 was an experienced ornithologist and was positive be- 

 yond question that a Barred Owl had been occupying 

 the nest, which now contained three hawk's eggs. 

 However, I remembered that another friend had once 

 found a nest in which both a Barred Owl and a Red- 

 shouldered Hawk had laid, and hoped that this might 

 be a similar case. Sure enough, it was. Someone 

 shortly after this took the hawk's eggs, but later an- 

 other friend visited the nest and found it to contain one 

 hawk's egg — probably the last one of the previous set 

 — and two Barred Owl's eggs. It was unfortunate that 

 the nest was in such a public place, for the mixed family 

 were not allowed to hatch, so nothing could be learned 

 of the developments of this remarkable occurrence. 



There is another good-sized owl which we are liable 

 to find nesting, the Long-eared Owl, which is somewhat 

 smaller than the Barred Owl. Unfortunately it is not 

 addicted to hooting and is one of the most secretive 

 birds I have ever met. Sometimes I start one out from 

 the shade of a thick cedar swamp, or other dense tangle, 

 but it only allows the merest glimpse as it goes flopping 

 away. It generally occupies some old nest and sticks 

 to it so closely that one is likely to pass it by, after 



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