98 



THE OOLOQI8T 



NESTING OF THE GREAT HORNED 



OWL IN THE VICINITY OF 



ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



I surprised myself completely dur- 

 ing the spring of 1920 by locating five 

 nests of the Great Horned Owl. This 

 seems to me to be an unusual record 

 for so old and well settled a locality. 

 In addition to these nests 1 found 

 single birds in four other widely 

 separated places, but thorough search- 

 ing failed to disclose nests or evi- 

 dence that they were mated indi- 

 viduals. 



Although I made several attempts 

 in late February and early March I 

 was unsuccessful in getting to the 

 better localities by machine because 

 of the excessive snows, and it was not 

 until March 23 that I discovered the 

 first nest on which Mrs. Owl was 

 brooding. Not having my climbers 

 along it was necessary to return the 

 next day to take photographs and to 

 collect a set of two slightly incubated 

 eggs. The nest was a last year's 

 hawk nest placed forty-five feet up in 

 a three limb fork of a large white 

 oak, which stood in an open wood one- 

 eighth mile from a house and about 

 three miles from Rochester. 



Four days later, March 27, I found 

 a second nest of two newly hatched 

 young seventy feet up in a' cavity of 

 an immense oak in a fifty acre patch 

 of timber to the south of this city. I 

 could not flush the female by club- 

 bing the trunk or by throwing sticks 

 at the hole. Finally I climbed a tall 

 maple from the top of which I could 

 see partially into the nesting hole. 

 By yelling and whipping the branches 

 I finally impressed Mrs. Owl with the 

 fact that 1 wished her to leave so I 

 could learn what the objects of lier 

 solicitude were. 



The third nest was found March 

 oOth in company with Mr. Ernest H. 



Short in a cedar swamp near the lat- 

 ter's home. The two horns of the 

 sitting bird were seen protruding 

 above the walls of a cavity in the 

 broken top of an arbor vitae or white 

 cedar twenty feet above the ground. 

 The bird refused to respond to rap- 

 ping the stub but left as I started the 

 climb. Two young about four days 

 old occupied the nest. 



The next nest was the prize of all. 

 It was located May 1st in a large 

 hardwood timber containing a scat- 

 tering of hemlock and pine. It was 

 a mass of old sticks resting on sev- 

 eral horizontal limbs sixty-five feet 

 up in the top of a hemlock which was 

 twelve feet in circumference at the 

 base and had no branches until with- 

 in fifteen feet of the nest. Although 

 I knew there were no young my 

 curiosity prompted me to investigate 

 at closer range so I made the ascent. 

 It was inspiring to sit away up there 

 in company with two nearly full- 

 sized Owls who were not in the least 

 pleased with the visit and according- 

 ly showed their disfavor with much 

 hissing and snapping of beaks. Across 

 a. field could be seen farm buildings 

 which I imagine helped to tide the 

 l)irds over the frugal winters, al- 

 though the only food remains under 

 the nesting tree were pheasant 

 feathers, rabbit hair and pellets con- 

 taining mice skeletons. Two owlets 

 shratik to the outermost edge of the 

 nest and 1 was afraid to reach for 

 them for fear they would back off for 

 a long drop to death. Upon reaching 

 the earth again I found the latter fear 

 to be partially groundless for several 

 rods from the nest tree 1 almost 

 stepped on a third owlet dozing in 

 the sunlight. 



On May 15th I climbed to an opep 

 nest forty feet up in a hickory tree. 

 It contained a pad of Horned Owl 

 feathers and the remains of eggs. 

 From the abundance of feathers I 



