THE MOTTLED OWL. 67 



are then generally of a reddish-brown, although considerable differ- 

 ences exist between individuals, as I have seen some of a deep- 

 chocolate color, and others nearly black. The feathers change 

 their colors as the pairing season advances, and in the first spring 

 the bird is in the perfect dress." 



J. P. Norris, writing iii the " Country Gentleman,'^ 

 Jan. 11, 1866, says that he secured two young birds of this 

 species when covered with down, and kept them until they 

 had become feathered, when their plumage was decidedly 

 red in color. 



J. P. Giraud, in his " Birds of Long Island," gives a 

 letter from J. G. Bell, of New York, in which that gentle- 

 man says, that he has taken the young birds from the nest, 

 covered with grayish-brown, and kept them through their 

 first plumage, which was red in color. 



These and other writers seem to agree that the red plum- 

 age is that of the bird in the first year. I leave it to 

 future experimenters to determine the matter beyond a 

 doubt. 



This bird feeds largely on the injurious night-flying 

 moths and beetles. Numbers of specimens tliat I have 

 examined, contained in their stomachs parts of these in- 

 sects and small mammals : very seldom indeed did they 

 have feathers or other parts of birds. 



The Mottled Owl selects for a nesting-place a hollow 

 tree, often in the orchard, and commences laying at about 

 the first of May, in the latitude of the middle of Massachu- 

 setts. The nest is made at the bottom of the hollow, and 

 is constructed of grass, leaves, moss, and sometimes a few 

 feathers. It is not elaborately made, being nothing more 

 than a heap of soft materials. The eggs are usually four 

 in number : they are pure-white, smooth, and nearly spher- 

 ical in form. Their length varies from 1.30 to 1.37 inch ; 

 breadth from 1.18 to 1.25 inch. The eggs are often laid on 

 the chips at the bottom of the hollow ; no attempt at a 

 nest being made. 



