194 Birds of Colorado 



victim, and often plunging under the surface. The 

 structure of its feet, the reversible inner toe, the gianular, 

 rough soles, the claws of equal length, all strongly curved, 

 are all adapted to the capture of fishes. It is frequently 

 robbed by the larger and stronger Bald Eagle of its 

 hardly-earned prey. 



The nest is generally placed in a tree and is used year 

 after year, so that it becomes a very bulky structure. It 

 is built up of sticks with various kinds of rubbish added to 

 it. The eggs, usually three in number, are very hand- 

 some, varying very much in shape and markings. The 

 ground-colour is creamy-white and this is marked with 

 various shades of brown, sometimes so heavily as to 

 conceal the gromid-colour. They average 2'45 x 2'0. 

 Morrison found fresh eggs at the end of April, while 

 Scott thought eggs were laid about June 13th, as the 

 female was constantly on the nest after this. These 

 are the only two dates I have found for Colorado. 



ORDER STRIGES. 



This order, containing the nocturnal birds of prey 

 or Owls, is easily distinguished by the following external 

 characters. 



Head very broad from side to side, and the feathers 

 arranged to form a ruff or facial disk, radiating outwards 

 from the eyes on either side ; bill with a basal, soft-skinned 

 cere, at the edge of which open the nostrils ; the base of 

 the bill concealed to a great extent by the feathers of 

 the facial disk ; edge of the bill never lobed or hooked ; 

 eyes forwardly directed, and very large ; ear-opening 

 often very large, and provided with an operculum or 

 movable flap, those of either side often quite asymmet- 

 xica and sometimes causing asymmetry in the skull 



