38 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 13-Xo. 8 



lease. If in a small makc-shlft nest, the flufty 

 form of the sitting female can generallv be 

 seen, but if a recent well-preserved nest is 

 chosen she throws out all superfluous lining 

 and nestles down into the hollow so tliat not 

 even the tip of her tail is visible. But, as incu- 

 bation progresses, the flying feathers betray her 

 hidden home, and sharp raps on the ti-ee will 

 suffice to drive her out. 



If found flying about or breeding in an open 

 nest, this owl"s sight appears to be perfect by 

 day, but wlien suddenly driven from a dark 

 cavity the course of flight is erratic for a few 

 seconds till the dilated pupils are adjusted. I 

 have seen them mousing at 9 a. m. and noted a 

 liandsome individual picking young red stpiir- 

 rels from a nest in the top of a white biicli in 

 the full blaze of a noonday sun. 



The Barred Owl is commonly called the Cat 

 Owl by our local farmers, and Bubo is known 

 as "one of them "ere great Hoot Owls." The 

 snapping of the bill when angry is curious, but 

 when ousted from the nest another habit of tile 

 female is more funny. It is like a military 

 mano'uvre on dress parade. She will fly 

 straight from her nest to some limb of a tree 

 and alight with her back towards the robber. 

 Then, as if in obedience to a sudden order-, she 

 gives a quick "right-about-face" on the limb 

 and faces you erect and "at attention" like a 

 grenadier. 



Though not usually a lofty flyer, on two oc- 

 casions Mr. Brand and myself, when at the 

 nest, have seen the pair soaring in circles far 

 overhead exactly like the Buteos. 



This species is much more common in Xew 

 London County than the Great Horned Owl, 

 {Bubo virginianus) which is of tener trapped, and 

 more relentlessly shot by both farmer and 

 sportsman. 



[When Dr. Brewer published his North Amer- 

 ican Ooloyij in 18.57, the only egg of the Barred 

 Owl that he could procure to figure in his work 

 was one which had never been laid by the bird, 

 but which bad been taken from the oviduct be- 

 fore it had gone through this process. And 

 yet he had the cabinets of the .Smithsonian In- 

 stitution and the Philadelphia Academy of Nat- 

 ural Sciences at his disposal, and they were 

 then, taken together with Dr. Brewer's private 

 collection, the most complete then in existence. 

 Now the eggs of Strix ncbulosa are not consid- 

 ered rare by any means, and the writer is en- 

 abled to jiresent a deseription of twenty-three 

 sets, which, it is believed, represent every vari- 

 ation to which the eggs of this bird are liable. 



Six of the sets were collected in Black Haw k 



County, Iowa, by G. P., and the remaining 

 seventeen sets by "J. M. \V." (C. L. Rawson) 

 in the vicinity of Norwich, Connecticut. Mr. 

 Rawson has also permitted the writer to use 

 his valuable field notes, which exhibit his won- 

 derful familiarity with these birds. They were 

 his friends, and every year he loved to visit 

 them and note their little peculiarities. And 

 these birds certainly do have peculiarities in 

 their nesting habits. They return year after 

 year to the same hollow cavity in the same tree, 

 and Mr. Rawson has fully established the fact 

 that the same pair of birds are nearly always to 

 be found breeding in the identical tree used by 

 them in preceding years. 



Some of the birds allowed him to handle 

 them while on their eggs, while others resented 

 any such familiarity. Others had their differ- 

 ent little traits, which he has fully set down in 

 his elaborate notes, and which will be found 

 condensed below. 



The eggs of this species are two or three in 

 number, quite globular, and pure white. The 

 .shell is often granulated, as in eggs of Bnfju 

 virginianus. They are also subject to much va- 

 riation in size, and large specimens of Strix ne- 

 bnlosa could be easily mistaken for small-sized 

 eggs of Biitiu I'irginianus. 



No nest proper is built, but tlie eggs are simp- 

 ly deposited in hollows of trees or old open 

 nests of hawks and crows, and no material is 

 ever taken in bj' the bird. 



.SETS COLLECTED IN IOWA. 



Set I. April 2, 1883. Black Hawk County, 

 Iowa. Collected by G. P. two eggs, incuba- 

 tion commenced : 2.04x1.71; 2.02x1.74. 



Set II. March 15, 1SS6. Black Hawk County, 

 Iowa. Collected by G. P. three eggs, incuba- 

 tion connuenced: 1.94x1.07; 2.04x1.74; 1.93 

 xl.68. 



Set III. April 2, 1886. Black Hawk County, 

 Iowa. Collected by G. P. three eggs, incuba- 

 tion connuenced: 1.99x1.09; 1.94x1.68; 1.90 

 xl.66. 



Set IV. March 18, 1887. Black Hawk County, 

 Iowa. Collected by G. P. Nest in hollow of a 

 tree. Three eggs, fresh: 2.11x1.73; 2.10 x 

 1.74; 2.11x1.7.5. Very large. 



Set V. March 18, 1887. Black Hawk County, 

 Iowa. Collected by G. P. Nest in hollow 

 tree. Three eggs, incubation begun : 2.04 x 

 1.72; 1.97x1.69; 2.04 x 1.71. 



Set VI. April o, 1887. Black Hawk ((junty, 

 Iowa. Collected by G. P. Nest in hollow tree. 

 Two eggs, fresh : 2.08 x 1.69 ; 2.19 x 1.73. The 

 latter egg is unusually large for this species. 



