6S 



THE OSPREY. 



head sometliing^ struck me between the should- 

 ers with u force that almost tumbled me to the 

 S'round. By a j^reat effort I kept my hold, and 

 then saw my assailant was a Great Horned 

 Owl, sailinn- away to the nearest tree, snappintr 

 his beak and makinj;' such a noise as only an 

 anfjry Creat Horned Owl is capable of. In a 

 moment llie mate darted at mo from a different 

 direction, and I had just time to throw my 

 i;lovcd hand before my face, when a claw 

 pierced my ylove and skin, tearinsj away apiece 

 of both. After that it did not take me long- to 

 scramble up amonjr the branches, where I was 

 comparatively safe from attack. 



On reaching- the nest I found it contained 

 throe youn.i;-, completely covered with jrray 

 down, the feathers showing- through in some 

 places. They were very pugnacious, and on 

 my apiiroach threw their heads and wings for- 

 ward and snapped their beaks viciously. As I 

 had no means of carrying such buiullesof rage, I 

 was compelled to leave them; but three days later 

 I vras there again provided with a stout sack to put 

 them in. This timethe Owlsdid notattack me so 

 viciously as before. On reaching: the nest I 

 found but two young; Owls, besic>Bs which there 



were two large rats and the hind-quarters of a 

 rabbit in it, and from the odor I presumed the 

 birds must have dined on skunk not long- before. 

 After some hard work I succeeded in getting 

 Owls, rats and rabbits into the sack. The for- 

 mer arrived at my home in excellent spirits; 

 however, they ref\ised to cat for some days, 

 until I feared they would starve. Hut having'- 

 placed one of thcin on my arm and held a piece 

 of meat l)efore its mouth, to my surprise the 

 food was bolted so quickly that my fingers 

 almost followed. I had sjlved the prol.)lem of 

 feeding Owls. X continued to feed them in this 

 manner until they grew so vicious that I could 

 not handle them with safety. When appro.ich- 

 ed they would jump at the intruder claws fore- 

 most, like a game-cock, with every feathercjnend 

 and the wings spre.ad forward. I fed them on 

 rats, rabbits and -squirrels; when these were 

 not obtainable, on beef, which they seemed to 

 relish. When I skinned one of them it was 

 extremely fat, although for the last three -weeks 

 of its life it ate very littie. They can subsist 

 for a considerable time without food, and they 

 drink little or no water. 



HABITS OF THE BARN OWL IN CAPTIVITW 

 By I). A. Cohen, Alameda, Cal. (Read before the Cooper Club, July 2, 1898.) 



ON June 1. while exploring some rocks on a 

 steep hillside, I saw a Barn Owl lly from 

 under a large perpendicular cliff'. Lash- 

 ing- a stout rope to a tree on the hill and lling'- 

 ing the loose end over the cliff, I slid down for 

 about IS feet to a ledge, where I obtained a 

 foothold at the entrance to a cave. Four downy 

 owlets hissed simultaneously .at my approach, 

 and scrambled to the furthermost point of the 

 cave. The cave w.as on the south side of the 

 cliff and was (piite light. Clo.se to the wall, not 

 over 5 feet from the entrance, were the eg-g- 

 shells that once held the owlets in embryo, and 

 the nest cavity was a. slight hollow in the sandy 

 floor, made by the weig'ht and movements of 

 the parents. The cave was littered with about 

 .1 bushel of pellets and a quantity of small 

 bleached bones. 



I judged the <iwlets were a month old. One of 

 them had sprcuiting"- wing-feathers, and part of 

 the frill surrounding- the face. After placing- 

 two birds each in either side of my huntings coat 

 and ascending- the rope, I carried them for sev- 

 eral miles over rough country to camp, where 

 they were put in a grain sack and slung under 

 the axle of the rig', and thus carried home. 

 They were unite all this wdiile, but on being 

 placed in a box when I got home they kept his- 

 sing at hearing the least movement, quieting 

 down only after considerable time. The loud 

 hissing notes were prolonged for 10 or 15 .sec- 

 onds, and when all of them hissed at once it 

 seemed like an eng'ine blowing off steam. 



Next day I fed tliem on smne small birds I 

 had skinned, but they refused to eat and fought 

 nie vig'orously with their claws. The largest 

 one was particularly vicious and has not yet 

 become reconciled: it sought the furthermost 

 corner of the liox, lay on its back, struck at my 

 hand -with its claws and almost stood on its 

 head to obtain a long^er reach. Never having- 



heard of an owlet that was not hungry. I con- 

 cluded that their savage nature failed to realize 

 my good intentions. So catching^ each one I 

 opened their beaks and placed food in their 

 mouths; it was readily .swallowed. Thoug-h they 

 did not beg for more, I fed them two more 

 courses with the same result. Their diet con- 

 sisted of scraps of raw meat with an occasional 

 bird or gopher, and once an executed chicken- 

 killing- cat. 



In about 10 days they had become more recon- 

 ciled to captivity and svrallowed food more 

 readily. A week later they would reach for 

 food, having- learned to know me. but would 

 immediately retreat .at sight of another person. 

 I could now put my linger into their mouths — 

 they w-ould nibble at it a little and then stop, 

 having found it was not meant to eat. By this 

 time the two larger birds were gradually feath- 

 ering", much down being retained on each 

 feather. The wing:-feathers and frills about 

 the face were now well grown out. The other 

 two birds, though of different sizes, were con- 

 siderably smaller, due to difference in age. The 

 snuillest one was always peevish, uttering a 

 note between a screech and a hiss, about every 

 two seconds for half an hour at times. This 

 little fellow began to g'-row weaker up to June 

 27, when it could not stand; so I put it out of 

 misery. It had hardly grown a bit since taken 

 from tile nest, and luid been backward in feath- 

 ering-. 



The others seemed dissatisfied with a diet of 

 butcher-shop scraps, and a few Knglish Spar- 

 rows and -sipiabs were e.aten with avidity. I 

 chopped the food fine, as the Owls showed hardly 

 any inclination to tear it up for themselves; but 

 latterly they took the birds given them, stand- 

 ing upon them, pulling them to pieces, and 

 swallowing even the feathers. 



From what I had read I supposed auOwlswal- 



