THE WESTERN HORNED OWL. 479 



Many attempts have been made to subdue the naturally ferocious cHsposi- 

 tion of tliis bird: but even when raised from tlie nest it is found to be sullen 

 and treacherous, insomuch that it will, without apparent provocation, fly at its 

 keeper like an infuriated tiger. Fresh meat is fed it in confinement, and anv- 

 thing of fish, flesh, or fowl is welcomed. 



The food of the Horned Owl in Eastern Washington consists of rabliits, 

 and all the various rodents which infest meadows and sage, together with birds 

 of many sorts, especially grouse. They easily cultivate an acquaintance with 

 the poultry-yard, and if well fed, loecome so fastidious that thev will have 

 nothing but the brains of a fowl. Naturally, this ejiicurean taste is resented 

 by intelligent ranchers, and the day of the Horned Owl is slowlv waning. 



Nevertheless, the attachment which this bird forms for a given locality is 

 very pronounced. Persecution will make it e.xcessivel}- wary and drive it to 

 maintain almost unbroken silence, but nothing short of a fatal shot will in- 

 duce it to forsake its chosen haunts. 



Where danger has not taught discretion they are (|uite free with their 

 nocturnal concerts: but they are knijwn to nest in places where a single full- 

 voiced //()()/ would draw the fire of the countryside. The mating song (.save 

 the mark!) is a succession of re.sonant bellowings in a single key, — IVhoo. 

 zvhoo. hoo-Jioo. -ci.'lio — quite variable as to length and form. Besides this the 

 bird occasionally indulges in a sepulchral laughter, hoo Iioo hoo Into hoo hoo 

 hoo. which arouses anything but mirthful feelings in the listener. 



Nesting begins earlier than in the case of any other resident species, and 

 fresh eggs may be looked for by the third week in February, whate\er the 

 state of the weather. Hollows in trees are sometimes used, and if so, receive 

 no lining: but old nests of hawk, magpie, or crow are more commonly em- 

 ployed. From two to four subspherical white eggs are laid — about the size 

 of hens' eggs — and they require the services of the mother bird for about four 

 weeks. During this time the male is in close attendance, feeding his mate 

 upon the nest and keeping a sharp lookout for intruders. 



When disturbed the owners pose in various attitudes, grotesque and 

 frightful, snapping their mandibles and now and then groaning in a most 

 dismal way. H" the }-oung are well grown it is not ahva}-s safe to venture near, 

 for a raking shot from those powerful talons will lea\-e a verv sore head. 



Once, in Yakima County, March 9th, 1887, it was, I took a set of two 

 eggs well incubated, of the Western Horned Owl, from an old nest of Swain- 

 son's Hawk, forty feet high in a giant balm tree. .\ few weeks later I came 

 upon a set of four, laid by the same bird, in an old Crow's nest in a neighbor- 

 ing poplar grove: and again, a month later, a .set of two in another Crow's 

 nest not a hundred feet away. These last I spared, for one does not always 

 contest the rights of motherhood, even in tigers. 



