THE OOLOGIST. 



Vol. 3, No. 2. ALBION, N. Y., MAR & APR, 1886. 



j Bl-MONTHLV. 



I 50c. Per Year. 



VAGARY OF A COLLECTOR. 



Great Horned Owls ; Climbing Strap. 



I have had hard luck thus far aftei- the 

 Bubos. The 20th of February I '^et down 

 as the proper date to look after them, and 

 before that time, for a week or two, I try 

 to locate the birds as best I can, in order 

 to save time when they are nesting. This 

 year I was unusually busj^ and had but 

 little time for earlj' locating. I knew of 

 three pairs of birds in 1885 and reasonably 

 counted on at least two of them keeping 

 to their old localities this year. 



On the 14th I was out and visited one of 

 these locations and saw one bird. On the 

 19th I spent the whole day, tramped about 

 fifteen miles, visited four woods where I 

 had seen birds or heard of their being seen 

 lately, including the woods visited on the 

 14th, but found nothing of nests, and no 

 owls, except a single one in the same 

 woods mentioned already. I felt convinced 

 that its mate must be sitting close at hand, 

 and gave a thorough search, pounding on 

 all likely trees and exploring old Hawk's 

 and Crow's nests, but without avail. 



The nest found in this woods in 1885 

 was in a large decayed stub, the top of 

 which had blown off, leaving a cavity 

 without top two feet deep and eighteen 

 inches in diameter. I carefully explored 

 this tree without climbing it. It was at 

 least 50 feet high, with no bark or limbs, 

 and I have made it a rule never to climb to 

 a nest without knowing it to be occupied. 

 I hammered on the hard shell with my 

 climbers, then with a club, and to make 

 finally sure threw heavj^ stones against it 

 as high up as I could, but to all appear- 

 ances it was not occupied. Well, I was 

 played out, tired out and disgusted. I 

 had eaten a hasty breakfast at 6:30 a. ji., 

 and after a cold tramp, with considerable 



snow on the ground, I reached home with 

 nothing to show for my trouble. However, 

 I did justice to a good supper and .slept 

 soundl3^ 



Sunday morning, the 21st, I concluded I 

 would take a little stroll, so sauntered off 

 to the nearest woods, about one-quarter of 

 a mile from our village limits, and had not 

 been m the woods ten minutes before 1 

 discovered on old Great Horned Owl seated 

 in a last j^ears Crow's nest. Well, it was 

 Sunday, but, fortunately, my "bringing 

 up " does not interfere with mj^ staying 

 home from church on occasions, so 1 post- 

 ed back after my climbers, believing it 

 safer to take the bird in hand than wait for 

 Monday's two in the bush. At the first 

 stroke of the climbers the old Owl left her 

 nest and alighted 50 or more yards ofi" in 

 woods, watched my ascent closely. As I 

 ueared the nest she flew closer, bent for- 

 ward on her perch, extended her wings 

 nearly to full length, and with a low, 

 quivering ho-o-o-o-o, described a circular 

 motion with her body and head, keeping 

 her grasp securely to the perch. In an in- 

 stant her mate appeared from the far cor- 

 ner of the woods, and together they eyed 

 me savagly, but at a respectable distance. 

 The climb was an easy one. The nest was 

 about 70 feet up, on a small white oak 

 near the top where the small limbs forked. 

 The two eggs were almost buried in loose 

 feathers of the owl. They proved to be 

 quite fresh, probably laid not over five or 

 six days. The next morning I was knocked 

 flat to have an acquaintance come into the 

 oflice and ask first the loan of my climbers 

 and strap, and then my services to climb 

 to a Great Horned Owl's nest that he had 

 just found. I proft'ered the former, but 

 emphatically declined the latter request. 

 Upon inquiring I found his nest was in the 

 identical tree where I had found the birds 

 nesting in 1 885, and which I had so closely 



