The OoLOGiST. 



TOL. XIII. NO. 3 ALBION, N. Y., MARCH, 1896. Whole No. 125. 



The Finding of Owls' Nests. 



Four species of Owls uest in north- 

 eastern Iowa, the Great Horned Owl, 

 the Long-eared Owl,theScreeeb|or Little 

 Red Owl ana the Barred Owl, the first 

 named being tne only kind which may 

 said to be be common. 



Years ago my brother and I, while 

 getting up the season's tire-wood dur- 

 ing the first part of April, cut down an 

 old red oak stump -about twenty feet 

 iiigh. The top had long been broken 

 ott', the heart was sound and dry and 

 most of the bark was still left, but the 

 sap-wood had decayed making a tree 

 which was the delight of the Hying 

 sqnirrels and Woodpeckers, who had 

 accordingly gnawed and drilled cavities 

 between the hard bark and the sound 

 core to their hearts' content. 



As the old loe came down among 'the 

 plum brush, with a crash, the bark 

 split and large pieces sloughed off. 

 From among the debris of bark, rotten 

 wood and leaves we fished out a very 

 much mussed Little Red Owl and two 

 eggs. She had stuck to her nest, 

 through all the jariing and noise of 

 chopping down, to the last. We let 

 her go but the eggs were for a long 

 time part of our boyish treasures. 



This wns the only nest of Megascops 

 asio that I ever found, though I have no 

 doubt if the bird could be induced to 

 leave her hole by rapping on the tree 

 that more would have been found as 

 the species was quite common but is 

 getting more rare each year. 



In going to and from the town to my 

 worlv I often cut across lots through a 

 ^rove, passing on my way an old oak 



full of cavities and holes, which in its 

 time has been the home and playground 

 of many a family of young squirrels. 

 Peering out of a particular knot-hole 

 on one side, I sometimes for several 

 days in succession will see one of our 

 little red friends. As I approach the 

 tree she gradually slides down into the 

 hole till only her horns and the upper 

 parts of her eyes are visible, and, as I 

 pass on by, she as gradually slips back 

 up to her former position. If I stop 

 for a moment she is gone, absorbed 

 by the darkness in the hollow old 

 trunk. Several times I have climbed 

 up to inspect her apartments but never 

 found any eggs. I have concluded that 

 it is not her home but only a sort of 

 hunting seat. 



The Long-eared Owl like her little 

 red cousin was once quite common, 

 and like her is becoming more scarce 

 from .\ear to year. I have found nests 

 of this species in old Crows nests, the 

 deserted nests of Cooper's Hawk and 

 squirrels' nests. The first nest I ever 

 found was in an old squirrel's nest 

 about fifteen feet up in a scrubby oak. 

 The last one was thirty-five feet from 

 the ground in a nest that had been 

 built and occupied the year before by a 

 Cooper's Hawk. This nest was also in 

 an oak. In fact I have never found a 

 nest of this bird in any other tree ex- 

 cept an oak. When I climbed to a nest 

 the female never failed to try to drive 

 me away by darting at me. often com- 

 ing within a foot of my head but never 

 quite striking it, and by snapping her 

 bill loudly. The male bird never seem- 

 ed to be far away, as shortly after the 

 commencement of hostilities he would 

 appear on the scene. He would not 



