308 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



atop the prey it seemed so loath to leave. I stopped the car twenty feet away 

 and turned on my strong spotlight. The owl's attention was riveted by the 

 dazzling beam, and while it stood motionless staring into the glare, I crept up 

 cautiously on the dark side, threw my jacket over it, and pinioned it down. After 

 wrapping the claws in my handkerchief to prevent accidents, and folding the 

 bird safely in my jacket, I stooped to pick up its prey, which to my surprise (and 

 delight) proved to be a half-grown house cat. The kill evidently had just been 

 made, for the limp body was still warm and quivering. 



Another dangerous animal for this owl to tackle is the porcupine; 

 a strong dose of the barbed quills of this animal might eventually 

 result in the death of the owl. Rev. C. W. G. Eifrig (1909) had one 

 of these owls brought to him that had tackled a porcupine. "It was 

 liberally sprinkled over with quills, especially on the sole of the right 

 foot — the quills having penetrated even that horny skin — under the 

 right wing, on the breast, neck, and even two in the left eye-lid. Some 

 of the quills had pierced the thick, solid muscles of the breast, lying 

 against the sternum. Fifty-six quills and parts of quills were ex- 

 tracted from the skin and flesh, and about ten left in." 



The list of birds eaten is a very long one and contains many large 

 species, which are probably attacked under great stress of hunger. 

 It includes pied-billed grebe, several species of wild ducks, Canada 

 goose, tame ducks and swans, American bittern, small herons, Amer- 

 ican coot, Florida gallinule, king and Virginia rails, red phalarope, 

 Wilson's snipe, yellowlegs, woodcock, various quail and grouse, 

 pheasants, domestic poultry (including turkeys, hens, guinea fowl, 

 and pigeons), mourning dove, marsh, Cooper's, red-tailed, and red- 

 shouldered hawks, barn, barred, long-eared, and screech owls, flickers, 

 sapsuckers, and other woodpeckers, blue jay, crow, starling, black- 

 birds, meadowlark, snow bunting, junco and other sparrows, mock- 

 ingbird, and robin. 



Great horned owls often visit duck stands and kill the decoy ducks 

 and geese that are tethered on the beaches. They kill also large 

 numbers of grouse in our northeastern forests; I have often found 

 the remains in their nests and evidence of their numerous kills scat- 

 tered through the surrounding woods. Mr. Shelley says in his notes: 

 "A great horned owl killed a cock ruffed grouse in a piece of woods 

 50 yards from the house. The grouse was almost entirely and neatly 

 plucked, this being done in two locations 20 feet apart. At the 

 first spot all the small body feathers were stripped off, and at the 

 second spot the wing quills and tail feathers. Here the bird was 

 eaten, and only a few small pieces of broken bone were to be found 

 in the feather refuse. Again, early in the morning of April 23 (six 

 days later), a hen grouse was found about 400 yards from the first 

 killing, also prey of probably the same owl, which is rare here at any 

 season. This time the grouse had been plucked neatly in two loca- 

 tions 12 feet apart; at the latter spot the body had been carried 5 



