THE DUSKY HORNED OWL. 481 



General Range. — Xortlnvest coast slope from Oregon north to Sitka, inter- 

 grading irregularly with interior forms, and theoretically overflowing on eastern 

 slopes of Cascades. 



Range in Washington. — Not common resident on Puget Sound, irregularly 

 to or thru the Cascade Mountains. 



Authorities. — ? Biibo virgiuiaiius var .^ Newberry, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. 

 VI., pt. IV., i8s7. p. 76. Bubo virginianus pacificus, Cassin, Baird, Rep. I'ac. R. 

 R. Surv. IX., 1858, p. 51. (T). C&S. L. Ra. Kk. B. E. 



Specimens.— U. of W. Prov. P. PN. E. 



HORNED OWLS in a stale of nature do not pose for inspection unless 

 forcibly detained. A steel trap is. of course, the surest method of detention, 

 but a mob of Steller Jays ranks a close second. Nothing can exceed the 

 joy of the Jav upon the discovery of one of these grim death's heads secreted 

 in the depths of a fir tree. Here is a day's sport cut out for one whose 

 "sportin' blood" runs high on week-days and turns feverish on owl days. 

 The whole Jay countryside is aroused. To the number of a score they gather 

 about the victim and throw all his sins up in him in a chorus of Billingsgate. 

 The Owl beams hate at them, snaps his mandililes fiercely, and makes now 

 and then an ineffectual dab at his pursuers, wdiich only seems to arouse fresh 

 shrieks of laughter. When the din becomes unbearable, he may dash from 

 cover, but the Jays surround liim at the next resting place, screaming sar- 

 castic apologies for their past rudeness, and promising redoubled misbehavior. 



One Avonders that they dare do it, for the sullen object of mirth will 

 assuredly wreak vengeance on them when his turn comes in the first watch 

 of the night. It is difficult to exaggerate the rapacity of these freebooters. 

 An observer in New York State, speaking, of course, of the eastern form, 

 "states that in a nest he examined, containing two young Owls, he found the 

 following animals: 'a mouse, a young niuskrat. two eels, four Indllieads. a 

 Woodcock, four Ruffed Grouse, one rabbit and ele\-en rats. The food taken 

 out of the nest weighed almost 18 pounds. A ctirious fact connected with 

 these captives was that tlie heads were eaten off, the bodies being un- 

 touched.' "* Mr. Bowles finds that during the fall and winter months on the 

 Nisqually Flats, these birds make a thoro search every night for wounded 

 dticks. So successful are they that out of hundreds that are wounded and 

 lost by sportsmen, it is very unusual to find one, wdiile well-i)icked carcasses 

 are common. 



Quite in keeping with the Horned Owl's sinister aspect are his vocal 

 performances at night. As a young man in Tacoma, the writer once lived 

 on East 26th Street, immediately adjoining a large wooden church building. 



a. Bendire. Life Histories N. A. Birds. Vol. I., p. 382. 



