THE OOLOGIST. 



53 



0QFeb.2l, '92, I took :i set of the 

 Great Horned Owl, from what I think 

 was an old hawk's nest, although it 

 may have been the nest of the Ameri- 

 can Crow, as it was only 21 feet from 

 the ground in a large spreading oak 

 tree, the complement of eggs was two, 

 almost round, and pure white, 2.26x1.82 

 and 2.30x1.80. I secured the old bird 

 and now ^lie occupies a prominent 

 })lace among the house flowers, Avhile 

 the littie white gem^ grace my cabinet, 

 as set No. 1. March 5, '93, was a fruit- 

 less hunt, sa^'e a specimen I have label- 

 ed "Ni/ctala ac^idica." Saw- whet Owl, 

 Female, I examined this bird for eggs, 

 bnt found no signs of any, although, I 

 think they breed here. 



Mirch 14th was a good d ly for owls, 

 or rather a rough day on ovvls and a 

 good day for me, for on that eventful 

 day after a tramp of over 8 miles, we 

 came home with two beautiful specimens 

 of "Mr^gascops asio" one of the mottled 

 gray variety, and the other a pretty 

 brownish red, these birds were caught 

 by putting a sack over the hole and 

 beating on the side of the tree, we also 

 took a set of six white eggs; nearly 

 round, two of which were badly incu- 

 bated, the others apparently fresh. In 

 this same dark lonesome woods, we 

 shot a Great Horned Owl, but the shot 

 tore him to much for a cabinet speci- 

 men. Next we took a set of IJarn 

 Oa'I's from an old apple tree in an 

 orchard near the house, these eggs are 

 more oval in shape than those of the 

 other species, the average measurement 

 of the six eggs is 1.75x1.30 in this nest 

 as is characteristic of all the owls was a 

 scanty bed of feathers plucked from the 

 i)reast of the jKirent bird, and a few 

 <lried sticks and leaves, the few leaves 

 probably put there by "Dame Nature." 



On March 31, I took another set of 

 the Barn or Hoot Owl from a walnut 

 tree close to the road, when I hapi)ened 

 to see the old bird 11 y in, as I was pass- 

 ing in a liuggy. Mr. Davie, in hisvalna- 



])le book, speaks of this owl in Southern 

 California, nesting in various places, 

 such as birus, holes in banks, bird 

 houses, old bird nests, holes in the 

 ground etc., but if they nest any place 

 except in hollow trees in this locality, I 

 have never heard of it. 



Geo. VV. Pitm.\n, 

 New Castle, Ind. 



The Sagacity of Fish Hawks. 



Wliile at Ercju, N. J., last sumnaer, I 

 was much surprised at the sagacity of 

 a flock of Fish Hawks. 



My brother and I were out collecting 

 one day, when I saw a flne specimen 

 perched on the top branch of a tree, 

 situated not far from an orchard. 



I shot and the ball hit on its wing, 

 The bird dropped, fluttering and 

 screeching from bough to bough until 

 he contrived to clutch at a strong fork- 

 ed branch and rested there. 



All day long he sat uttering piercing 

 screams, and the next morning was 

 found to have gathered around him a 

 large circle of hawks who seemed to be 

 holding council. Each in turn chatter- 

 ed busily, as if giving advice or pro- 

 jiosiug plans of ivlief, \vhile their 

 wounded brother seemed to listen 

 eagerly and now and then put in a 

 Avord. 



We called several friends, and the ap- 

 proach of human beings produced great 

 consternation among the l)irds, bnt 

 they did not fly away and desert the 

 disabled one. 



They fed the bird several tiiues. some 

 fllying to the ocean and bringing sm:ill 

 lisii in their claws. 



It was easily seen, however, that the 

 nearness of the tree to the orchard 

 caused the greatest anxiety, and even 

 after the invalid's hunger was satisfied 

 the other i)irds kept flying away ia 

 l^arties, while others perched on the 

 tree as if w^aiting for the messengers 

 return. It was soon evident that some 



