NORTHERN BARRED OWL 191 



There is plenty of evidence that barred owls do much of their 

 hunting in broad daylight. I have several times seen one flying about 

 in the open. A. D. DuBois tells me that he saw one "fly to the ground 

 several times, in a low woodland, where it caught and ate some sort 

 of prey." C. L. Rawson (1883) saw one that was clinging "to the 

 top of a white birch with one claw, and was tearing away at a squirrel's 

 new domed nest with the other claw." 



Dr. George M. Sutton (1928) writes: 



The Barred Owl is apparently the enemy of all the smaller owls. On May 

 31, 1923, a Barred Owl was seen chasing a Screech Owl, the smaller creature crying 

 out in mortal terror. One killed on May 12, 1922, had the remains of a Screech 

 Owl and a Field Mouse in its stomach. The result of the big Owl's cannibalistic 

 habits is that there are virtually no Screech Owls anywhere in Pymatuning, and 

 where they do occur they almost never call. So far as I have been able to deter- 

 mine, the Great Horned Owl never preys upon the smaller owls, and I offer no 

 evidence that the Barred Owl ever captures the Barn, Long-eared, or Short-eared 

 Owl. 



Mr. Forbush (1927) found the remains of long-eared owls in the 

 stomachs of two barred owls, and in the stomach of one of the long- 

 eared owls were the remains of a screech owl, a case of cannibal eat 

 cannibal. 



Barred owls, as well as some other large owls and hawks, have well- 

 marked feeding nests, old nests to which they carry their prey to tear 

 it up and devour it at their leisure. Such nests are often well deco- 

 rated with downy feathers, and I have been tempted to climb to them 

 on several occasions. One of these, used by a barred owl, contained 

 the posterior half of a large hornpout, the hind leg of a cottontail 

 rabbit, numerous bits of fur and feathers, and about a handful of 

 small, white fish bones, such as are found in kingfishers' nests. These 

 feeding nests are generally not far from the breeding nests, in the same 

 patch of woods. 



Behavior. — The flight of the barred owl is light, buoyant, and noise- 

 less, with rather slow beats of its spacious wings; it often glides grace- 

 fully and skillfully among the intricacies of the forest branches, sliding 

 upward in a curving glide as it alights. It probably is not swift 

 enough to catch birds on the wing, but is quick enough in pouncing 

 on its stationary prey from a silent approach. I have seen it flying 

 high in the air when pursued by crows, but I have never seen it soaring. 



Its behavior about its nest varies with different individuals; some 

 birds fly from the nest when they hear the intruder coming; others 

 fly when the tree is rapped; one bird, with which I was familiar for 

 several years, always remained on the nest until I was partway up 

 the tree; once I saw her asleep on a low nest. This bird was so tame 

 that I had no difficulty in photographing her on her nest; while I was 

 perched in a treetop, within 15 feet of the nest, she returned to the 

 nest again and again to brood her young, after I had purposely scared 



