274 Mr. E. Fountaine on the Nesting of a pair of Eagle Owls. 



the first was laid on the 20th ; three young birds were hatched 

 and all reared. 



The seventh nest was in February 1855 ; three eggs were 

 laid, the first was laid on the 3rd ; all the eggs were destroyed, 

 the weather being so severe. Another nest was made of three 

 eggs in the end of the month, but, the weather still being ex- 

 ceedingly cold, that nest was also destroyed ; no young ones 

 were hatched that year. 



The eighth nest was in January 1856; three eggs were laid, 

 the first was laid on the 12th ; all the eggs were destroyed, the 

 weather being very cold. Another nest was made in February; the 

 first egg was laid on the 10th ; three young birds were hatched 

 and all reared. 



The ninth nest was in January 1857 ; two eggs were laid ; the 

 first was laid somewhere at the end of the month, but was de- 

 stroyed, the weather being too cold. Another nest was made in 

 February ; it had two eggs ; both birds were hatched and both 

 reared. 



The tenth nest was in January 1858 ; two eggs were laid, and 

 both destroyed, the weather being too cold. Another was made in 

 February ; it had two eggs ; both birds were hatched and both 

 reared. 



The eleventh nest was in February 1859; two eggs were laid, 

 the first was laid on the 10th. I came home and found one bird 

 dead in the egg, the other egg was rotten. Another nest was 

 made in April; the first egg was laid on the 13th, another on 

 the 17th, in which state I left them, and having since been 

 absent from home, I cannot say any more at present. I have 

 proved that many of the first nests were destroyed, not from the 

 coldness of the weather, but because the young birds were egg- 

 bound ; and when I was myself from home, there was no one 

 who understood how to take them out of the shell. I could 

 have saved the young bird this year if I had been at home. I 

 found on one occasion a young bird egg-bound, which it took 

 me three days to take from the shell. This bird lived and was 

 brought up. 



Three pairs of the Owls which I brought up in confinement 

 have at different times laid eggs and sat on them, but the eggs have 



