350 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



"the deserted nests of the larger hawks were sometimes occupied by 

 Horned or Long-eared Owls." And he also says that one pair used 

 one of the old heron nests in the great blue heron rookery on Skull 

 Creek, Saskatchewan. These adopted nests include those of red- 

 tailed hawks, Swainson's hawks, ferruginous roughlegs, and in fact 

 all hawks that build nests of sufficient size and proper character. 

 Apparently Montana horned owls nest at all heights above the ground 

 up to 70 feet. The hawk nests they use average about 40 feet above 

 the ground. Higher than that, they must be in sheltered places more 

 or less out of the wind. 



In the Yellowstone National Park these birds nest in March, on the 

 tops of stubs or thick trees, and at least once a pair nested in a niche 

 in a cliff near Gibbon Falls. On June 25, 1917, I found a deserted 

 nest on the top of a 20-foot stub standing alone in a little embayment 

 facing east, in the fir forest above Mammoth, and overlooking an 

 open mesa and the Gardiner Valley beyond. These owls came back 

 again and again for many years to this old nest until a wind of un- 

 usual strength toppled the old stub over. Sometimes the old bird 

 would refuse to leave the nest even when stones and sticks actually 

 struck the nest below her. In spite of the reputation of horned owls 

 for ferocity, these were devoted mates, and were actually affectionate 

 to each other, as well as to their young. The nests I found in the 

 Yellowstone were all in the mountains where there were no magpie 

 nests to serve as bases. 



Wolfe (1912) found an unusual nest in western Kansas, in a large 

 hole in a clay bank. On March 24, 1910, a female owl was in this 

 hole, which was 2 feet deep, and the eggs in a slight depression, with 

 no lining. Wolfe (1912) also says that in western Kansas, the nests 

 are usually in holes and fissures in limestone ledges along the streams. 

 On March 25, 1909, "after a great deal of climbing and looking into 

 many holes and crevices ; we at last located a nest containing one egg. 

 The nest was in a crevice in the face of a cliff about forty feet up. 

 The crevice was parallel to the base and perhaps ten inches wide. 

 * * * It [the egg] was lying in a depression nearly round and four- 

 teen inches in diameter by seven inches deep, and contained no lining. 

 From all appearances and the amount of debris, bones and etc., lying 

 near the nest, this site had been used for many generations and by 

 constant use the depression had been worn in the solid rock. Neither 

 of us touched the egg or put our hands in the crevice, hoping to 

 secure a complete set later. During our stay at the nest we did not 

 see either of the birds. April 8, we returned, * * * but the 

 nest had been deserted." Of another nest, Wolfe (1912) says: "A 

 careful search was begun and resulted in flushing a female from a 

 nest containing two eggs. This nest was * * * situated in a 

 very open place, being on a ledge not over eight feet up. The eggs 



