THE OOLOGIST 



85 



sei'ui to Ix' ;i rensoiialjly large cavitj- in 

 an out of the way tret^ Yet the liirds 

 are very sly about their nest which is 

 often <|uile hard to liml. The very 

 roughness of the occupied cavity- fre- 

 (juently serves to draw away attention 

 from the object of search. 



A rap on the trunk of the tree, 

 although it will generally bring out the 

 Ijird, is not to be depended upon' as a 

 sure means of discovering the nest. 

 In my experience, tlu; bird will often 

 retain her seat until you have quite 

 reach'-d the cavity. Ag:iin, she will oc- 

 casionally hear your a pi)roach and silent- 

 ly slip from the nrst ixfure 3011 are iu 

 .<eeing tlistance of her. 'Jin- two finest 

 sets of egg< which I excr hel|)ed to lake 

 were oidy discovtMi'd after climbing to 

 c.ivilies w hich hail shown no signs of 

 being tenanted. In one of these cases 

 the l)ird had slipped away unnoticed; 

 in the other case, she remained on the 

 nest until my friend had nearly climbed 

 to the cavity. What 1 consider one of 

 the best signs of the proximity of an 

 owl's nest is the presence of downy 

 feathers sticking to limbs and bushes 

 around a promising tree. Close in- 

 .spection will frequently reveal small 

 feathei's clinging to the edges of the 

 prospective cavity, which are almost a 

 sure sign of a feathered inhabitant. 



The nesting season of the Barred 

 Owl begins the last of February and 

 c<)ntinues until May. The earliest eggs 

 to come under my jK-rsonal notice were 

 a .'■et of four nearly Irc-h, taken fiom a 

 large sycamoi'e tree, .on the twenty- 

 eighth of February. 1891. by Mr. O. K. 

 \ViUiam.M)u and myself. I may wtdl 

 state here that Mr. Williamson and I 

 have studied bird life and coll(;ctid 

 together for the two past .seasons, and 

 have shared each others oiilogical 

 laiiors, pleasures and disapi;<ointments. 

 It is his experience as n)uch as my own 

 whicii I am giving. 



The eggs of the BaiTi'd Owl ari- di'- 

 posited in the ra\ity without any lining 



except a few feathers from the breast 

 of the mother bird. The' female gener- 

 ally begins setting several days before 

 the first egg is laid and retains her seat, 

 perhaps relieveil occasionally by her 

 mate, until the rapacir)us appetites of 

 the young require the combined labors 

 of the parent birds. 



When driven fi-oni her nest, the bird 

 keeps a close watch and returns as soon 

 as all is quiet. If hen's eggs have been 

 substituted in the meantime for her 

 own i)early beauties, the unsuspecting 

 biril adopts them as her own. Mr. 

 Williamson and I once replaced a set 

 of two with hen's eggs and returned 

 more than a month later and found the 

 old bird i)atieL.tly sitting on one de- 

 cayed egg. The other had probably 

 hatched, the young chick having either 

 fallen from the nest or starved from 

 lack of proper food. If one of an in- 

 completed set be taken, the bird 

 seldom, if ever returns to finish the 

 com pigment. Sets of two eggs of this 

 owl are most common, although one 

 frequently finds .sets of three and rare- 

 ly one of four. The eggs vary C(»usid- 

 erably in .size, but can generally be 

 distinguished from those (jf other 

 species. A set of three in my collection 

 measure respectfive: 1.86 x 1. ()."), 1. DO 

 ,\ l.G-2, and 1 90 x I oil. 



If unmolested the owls will (x-cupy 

 the same cavity year after year. If 

 I'obbed of their tirst eggs, they always 

 mak(! a second in-st three wcrks or a 

 month later. I have always found the 

 second set in a dilTerent tree jrom the 

 lirst. But if both sets are taken, the 

 birds generally I'dnrnthe nexi s'-ason 

 to the old tri'c. 



At any rate, if not bolhci cd ii\ cillier 

 the .'■hot-gun or too free ii>c of the 

 woodsman's ax, a paii' of owls will stay 

 in the same neighborhood for many 

 years, witlnnd any :f|»parent tlnnight 

 of einigi'aliiig from tln-ir nali\e woods. 

 WaI/PKH 1 lU ITT, 



Channte, Kans. 



