MONTANA HORNED OWL 357 



silence passed and then both parents were heard in a tree near the nest, holding 

 a confused conversation, one uttering the whoo and the other giving erreeuh calls 

 accompanied by a loud snapping of the beak. The latter was evidently the 

 female. * * * Another of her calls was a series of sharp tchi-tchi-lchi sounds, 

 ending in a harsh screech. 



Enemies. — On one occasion, as a Montana horned owl flew off 

 through a lodgepole forest, I heard a pine squirrel scolding it. On 

 May 24, 1916, I heard a western robin chirping rapidly in some ever- 

 greens. When I got there I found two owls perched in the flexilis 

 pines. So far as I could see they were neither injuring nor molesting 

 the robin in any way. Crows are not common over much of the range 

 of the Montana horned owl and there is little mobbing of owls by them. 



Fall. — Little is known of any seasonal movements. Still, W. Ray 

 Salt banded two horned owls at Rosebud, Alberta, on May 23, 1930. 

 One was shot at Antelope, Mont., 400 miles distant, on January 8, 

 1931. The other was caught at Carbon, Alberta, 30 miles in an 

 exactly opposite direction, on July 1, 1931. While these two records 

 show an apparent migration, in two different directions, yet we must 

 remember that young owls tend to wander widely after leaving the 

 vicinity of the nest. Still, after this allowance is made, there are 

 many other Montana horned owls that remain much closer home than 

 these two did. Possibly there is a movement south by the most 

 northern birds, just as I observed a movement down from the highest 

 altitudes in the Yellowstone. 



Winter.— While I do not think that any number remain all winter 

 in the Yellowstone Park, on one occasion I found where one had caught 

 a pine squirrel on the snow, although the squirrel had attempted to 

 dig down into the snow and escape. On another winter day I found 

 the trail of a snowshoe rabbit ending abruptly where there were prints 

 of an owl's wings on either side. In this case there was no indication 

 that the rabbit had known of the owl's approach, no sign of a struggle, 

 and very little blood. Evidently the rabbit had been seized and 

 carried off before it knew the owl was near. This picking up of its 

 prey is very different from the heavy blows struck at enemies. So 

 far as I know, these heavy blows are not used at prey. 



Kelso (1930) says: "During the winter of 1928-29, two Western 

 Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus pallescens) were repeatedly observed 

 to be ranging along a cottonwood-bordered creek a few miles east of 

 Aurora, Colorado. In the months of January and February they 

 occupied widely separated parts of their territory, and neither had any 

 regular roosting place." But Wolfe (1912) has recorded: "During the 

 winter of 1909-10, I noticed that a male Western Horned Owl had 

 taken up his home in a large hole in a clay bank which was usually 

 used in the summer by Barn Owls." This hole was 2 feet deep, and 

 in March Mr. Wolfe found a pair of horned owls nesting there. 



