AMERICAN BARN OWL 141 



12 feet from the ground, in a thick, gnarled branch of a low-spreading 

 live oak ; the owl flew out, as I climbed to the nest, and did not appear 

 again ; the cavity was so deep that I could barely reach the eight eggs 

 that lay at the farther end on a bed of rotten chips, rubbish, and bits 

 of down. The nest had been occupied on previous occasions. 



As far as I can learn, from the experiences of others, the barn owl 

 shows a decided preference, in California at least and apparently in 

 Texas also, for nesting in cavities, holes, or burrows, in cliffs or steep 

 banks, which are easily found or made in the numerous barancas or 

 gullies to be found in that region. Dr. B. W. Evermann (1882) says: 



The site selected for the nest is most usually a hole or crack in the wall of a 

 baranca or cliff. During the past season, I examined more than thirty nests, at 

 least five-sixths of which were thus located. The entrance to these holes, if in 

 barancas, is usually eight to ten feet from the surface of the ground; if in cliffs, 

 any suitable place on the face is selected. The cavity usually extends inward 

 nearly horizontally for a foot or more, then bends down slightly, continuing at 

 that angle for two to three feet, slightly widening to the end where it is quite 

 commodious, being often as much as two feet in diameter. For some time it was 

 a preplexing question to me as to how and by what these holes were excavated. 

 After careful investigation, I am convinced that the owls themselves make many 

 of them. A slight crevice or squirrel hole is selected, and, with their powerful 

 claws, they hollow it out to proper dimensions. Both birds are frequently found 

 occupying the cavity during the day, — the male to one side of the nest. 



* * * We visited a deep baranca a few miles east of Santa Paula, where we 

 knew them to be abundant. * * * We dug down to eleven nests altogether, 

 from six of which we got forty-four eggs, ranging from six to ten eggs to the nest. 



But the burrows are not always selected. Two nests were found in holes in 

 oak trees, one was found in a barn, * * * and in April, 1880, I found a pair 

 occupying the deserted nest of a crow, which was placed about twenty feet from the 

 ground in a cottonwood. I visited this nest at two different times before taking 

 the eggs (five in number), and drove the female from the nest on each occasion. 

 The use of a nest of this kind by the Barn Owl is very rare, I think; careful 

 search failed to discover a second instance of this kind. 



* * * As to whether it constructs any nest seems to depend entirely where 

 it nests; if in holes in cliffs, trees, or walls, no lining is used; if in barns or houses, 

 it constructs a rude nest of sticks or other rubbish easily brought together. 



Julian K. Potter and John A. Gillespie (1925) made some extensive 

 studies of the home life of a pair of barn owls near Gloucester, N. J. 

 The nesting site was in an old tower (pi. 27), "a frame building of 

 three stories shaped like a truncated pyramid, with a water tank at 

 the top. It was in an extremely dilapidated state of repair, and the 

 window panes were entirely missing." The nest was in a "hole in the 

 floor just in front of the stairway leading to the roof and about three 

 feet from the open window. * * * The nest cavity was approxi- 

 mately twenty inches deep, fifteen inches wide and eight inches high, 

 the sides being formed by vertical floor beams, and the top and bottom 

 by the floor and the ceiling of the room below. * * * No nesting 

 material of any description was in evidence except a small clump of 

 black feathers which possibly once belonged to a Starling." 



