190 



THE OOLOGIST. 



Ain. Long Eared Owl. 



In tilt' ]):i.st iiumlx'rs of the ()oi-<>(;iST 

 I have set'U several short articles on 

 this bird. I have hail the good fortune 

 with a friend, to secure five sets this 

 season. All Avere found in deserted 

 crow's nests and in four cases near a 

 house some them less than 100 yds. I 

 have often in winter known these birds 

 to roost in a pine tree a few yards from 

 a house, and they were always quite 

 lame, especially after night. 



My first set, taken on Mardi 11, '8S), 

 was one of eight eggs in a deserted 

 crow's nest in a white ])ine, a favorite 

 tree with the Owl, al)out 20 feet fnmi 

 the groimd. The old bird did not leave 

 the nest until I was very close to it. 

 The eggs were placed in the bottdiu of 

 the old nest, just as it was, except a few 

 feathers from the breast of the old bird. 

 It had evidently begun incubating with 

 the first egg, as some had well-formed 

 embryoes, and others were quite fresh. 

 One, to all appearances, having been 

 laid that morning. 



The next set was one of seven, taken 

 live days later in a ))ine tree ten feet 

 from the ground. Iliad ample ojipor- 

 tunity to observe the old bii-d during 

 the time she was laying tlii.s set, as it 

 was only fifty yards from an old house 

 on the farm, and not o\cr 1.10 yards 

 from the dwelling houses. She dcjios- 

 Ited an egg every other tiny, taking 

 fourteen days for the .seven eggs. In- 

 cubation began with the first egg. Be- 

 fore laying she .sat on the nest tor a 

 week or more, either to di-y it or per- 

 haps to shape it. Nothing was added 

 to it by the Owl. 



The third set was taken from an old 

 crow's nest in a pin<> tree liftcen feet 

 from the ground. Nothing was added 

 to it by the Owl. It was taken March 

 22, and was of seven eggs, inculiation 

 begun in some of the eggs, as usual, 

 while S(3me were fresh. It is in the 

 collection of F. W. McC'oiiiuuk, of 

 Leigton, Ala. 



Tile fourth set was of seven eggs, 

 taken from tiie same nest as the second 

 set of seven and from the same birds as 

 the female ne\er left the nest, 'nut con- 

 tinued setting. She licgaii laying on 

 the 28th and deposited one egg e\-ery 

 other day as before, and had finished 

 by the 12th of April. Quite a number 

 of feathers were shed from her breast 

 and left in the lu^st. Incubation as us- 

 ual. I can detect no ditlerence in this 

 set and the first .set she laid. 



The fifth set was taken on Apii! 1.1th. 

 It was of five eggs, incubation well hi - 

 gun in all. It was found in a descried 

 crow's nest in a hedge, ten feet from 

 the ground. The nest was in \-ery l)ad 

 condition and would hardly hold the 

 eggs. The Owls were around lliis nest 

 over a month before the,y liegan laying. 

 The Owl ill tiie grove liegaii laying 

 her third set on April 2.1th and deposit- 

 ed seven eggs, making twenty-one in 

 the same nest. I did not take these but 

 let her hatch them. The period of in- 

 culiation was about a month. One egg 

 was thrown from the nest and another 

 was found to be rotten. The first one 

 to hatch was found dead under the nest 

 next morning Three days later the 

 next one hatched, and tw(j days after 

 the third, another egg was thrown from 

 the nest at this time and the foui'th 

 hatclu'd foui' days after (hird. 'i'iie 

 second and third wrrv nearly of a size, 

 but the fourth was niueli siiialler, ant! 

 the others left the nest some time ))efore 

 it. 



The female was vci-y tame. When 

 thrown from the nest she would retiu'ii. 

 A number of mice Avere generally 

 found in the nest with the birds and the 

 pellets of the old birds contained no 

 liones but those of mice. 



A Green Heron raised a lnood iiol 

 over twenty yards away, and many 

 hundreds of Bronzed (iiiukhs iKst 

 in the grove. 



A set of eight eggs shows tiie follow- 

 ing dimensions: 1.02-1.2.1, 1.04-1.28, 



