230 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



his face (pi. 57) but would not leave then until he pulled her out; she 

 then perched for some time on a small sapling nearby, where she 

 disgorged a pellet with considerable effort. The nesting cavity was 

 about 12 inches deep and barely large enough to admit my hand and 

 arm. There were six eggs in the nest, one in the center and the other 

 five around it, partially buried in the fine chips usually found in 

 flickers' nests, mixed with numerous feathers of the owl. Incuba- 

 tion in the eggs varied from one-quarter to two-thirds. 

 Dr. Ralph wrote to Major Bendire (1892) as follows: 



We found these birds quite common in Oneida County, New York, especially 

 in the northern and eastern parts. Their nests are not very hard to find, and it 

 seems strange that so few have been taken. Those found by Mr. Bagg and 

 myself were all in the deserted holes of Woodpeckers and the eggs were laid on 

 the fine chips found in such burrows without much of an attempt at making a 

 nest. They were all in woods, wholly or in part swampy, such situations being 

 particularly congenial to these birds, who usually frequent them throughout the 

 year. 



The first nest was taken near Holland Patent, New York, on April 7, 1886. 

 It was situated 22 feet above the ground in a dead maple stump, and contained 

 seven eggs ranging from fresh to slightly incubated. The second was found near 

 the same place on April 21, 1886, also in a dead stub 40 feet above ground. It 

 contained five young birds and an egg on the point of hatching. The third was 

 found on the same day near Trenton Falls, New York, likewise in a dead stub 

 20 feet above the ground. It contained seven eggs which were heavily incubated. 

 The fourth was found at Gang Mills, Herkimer County, New York, April 30, 

 1886, in a dead stump 50 feet above ground, and likewise contained seven eggs 

 on the point of hatching. The fifth and last was taken near Holland Patent, 

 New York, April 30, 1889, and was situated in the dead top of a maple tree 63 

 feet above the ground, and contained four eggs ranging from fresh to slightly 

 incubated. I believe they lay their eggs at intervals of about two days. 



Outram Bangs (1894) writes: 



On July 3, 1893, Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., and I were setting out a line of traps 

 in a heavy white pine swamp that lies along Red Brook in the town of Wareham, 

 Mass. We noticed a large old pine stump which was broken off about 25 feet 

 above the ground and full of Woodpeckers' holes, and pounded on it. We had 

 pounded but once or twice when a Saw-whet Owl popped her head out of the 

 uppermost hole and kept it there motionless, although I fired at her three times 

 with my pistol. The third shot killed her and she fell back into the hole. 



On taking the bird out, I found there was a nest containing seven eggs. The 

 nest was quite bulky and composed of gray moss (Usnea) interwoven with small 

 pieces of fibrous bark, a few pine needles, small twigs, and feathers of the bird 

 herself. The hole in which the nest was found was 18 feet from the ground and 

 about 8 inches deep. 



In the nest besides the eggs was a half eaten red-backed mouse (Evotomys gapperi) . 



Three of the eggs were in various stages of incubation, one being on the point of 

 hatching, — in fact the young bird had already cracked the shell. Three were 

 addled, and one was perfectly fresh. 



George W. Morse writes to me, on the nesting of this owl in Okla- 

 homa: "They are apt to nest 14 to 18 feet up in an elm snag. The 

 nest usually consists of chips of decayed wood, occasionally a few 



