May 15, 1882.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



125 



adverse conditions of temperature. In 

 one of these swamps I was shown my 

 first Blue Yellow-back's ne.st, by an en- 

 thusiasti(' worker hereabouts, who had the 

 kindness to guide me through the Swamp- 

 tangled labyrinths for the space of an 

 hour or more to my great profit and 

 delight. The beautiful Calla palustres 

 and the pitcher plant (S. purpurea) were 

 in blossom under the shade of the trees, 

 and the spagnurn under foot, several feet 

 in thickness, was as soft as a bed of down. 

 Botanically considered, the spot was a per- 

 fect treasure house. I visited the place 

 again during the Winter of 1880, when 

 the ice assisted me greatly in getting about. 

 — G. li. C, Norwich, Conn. 



Great Horned Owls' Nests and Eggs. 



W. "W. Coe, of Portland, Conn., secured 

 still another set in his long series of Great 

 Homed Owls, Feb. 27th, his earliest record 

 being Feb. 22d. 



March 12th, I startled a Bubo from an 

 old nest under which I had been twice in 

 February and seen no sign. Fragments 

 of shells and a wad of wet feathers were 

 on the ground, and the nest held one Owl 

 but a few hours fi-om the shell. There 

 was no quarry or food in the nest and the 

 parent, which flew swiftly out of range, 

 was a bird of the small dark male tj-jje. 

 Now, if the period of incubation of /?. vir- 

 ginimius is as given by writers ("all guess 

 work" says Dr. Wood), or if it ajoproaches 

 in duration the long incubation of the 

 JButeos, of which I have some data, then 

 the egg which produced this chick must 

 have been laid at an earlier date than any 

 present record of the breeding of this 

 species in Conn. — ./. M. IF., Xonrich, Ct. 



I have been serenaded all winter by the 

 harmonious sub-bass of a pair of Great 

 Horned Owls from Cedar Swamp, some 

 three-fourths of a mile away, and as I list- 

 ened I whispered to myself, " just you 

 wait till next February and then see. " 

 They waited till about the middle of Fel)- 



ruary, when the serenading suddenly 

 ceased, and I listened for it in vain night 

 after night. And right here let me ask the 

 question of those acquainted with this 

 bird's habits, if they do not cease " hoot- 

 ing" for a time after they commence to 

 breed"? I have observed this same omi- 

 nous sOence through the latter part of 

 February before. After listening in vain 

 night after night till into March, I gave 

 them up, remarking to a friend that my 

 great expectations had turned to disap- 

 pointment, when the suggestive question 

 above was put to me, and sure enough one 

 evening my ear was saluted again by the 

 old serenade all the evening long, and the 

 next morning it was continued until 8 

 o'clock. When night came again, the ser- 

 enade again commenced, and I started ofif 

 in the twOight to trace them out. Reach- 

 ing the limit of my intended trip. I heard 

 the Owl, apparently about a mile further 

 on. I listened as it repeated its note and 

 at each repetition it seemed nearer, till 

 pi'esently it resounded from a grove quite 

 near me and I heard a strange noise, a 

 rapidly repeated ha-ha-ha-hey-e-e coming 

 liaek, and my inference was that the male 

 was treating his mate to a supiaer. It was 

 only a little grove, but I well knew of an 

 old Cooper's Hawk's nest built two years 

 ago in it, and there, when I paid a visit by 

 daylight, were the erect horns and a par- 

 tial glimpse of the great eyes staring down 

 at me. A smart rap on the tree started 

 her off and I arranged for a climb. It 

 was not a difficult tree — a maple forty- 

 seven feet from the ground to the nest — 

 and I soon had the much prized set in mj- 

 hands — two pure white eggs very nearly 

 round. Incubation had proceeded prob- 

 ably about a week or ten days. I do not 

 think the Owls had added any building 

 materials to the nest, but the setting bird 

 m\ist have nearly denuded her breast of 

 feathers for lining, as the inside was well 

 matted with them. This was on I\Iarch 

 13th. and incubation was unusuallv late 



