08 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 16-No. 5 



By this time I had reached the clear place 

 longed tor, and stepping out in full view ex- 

 pecting soon to see a magnificent owl sail oif, 

 hear the crack of a gun and see that beautiful 

 mass of feathers lying at my feet; but alas, it 

 was all a dream, for no owl was in sight. Al- 

 though deeply disappointed in not securing a 

 shot 1 heeded the cry of advancement from 

 my companion and hastened toward the big 

 woods from whence the owl first came. 



We had entered the woods but a short dis- 

 tance and were admiring the stately elms and 

 basswood tree relics, one in particidar whi<di 

 • was nearly ITjOfeetin height and some Tifeetin 



circumference, when I was startled by a cry 

 from my companion, Look, look at those ears! 

 Looking in the direction that he was pointing 

 1 saw projecting over the decayed branch of 

 the same tree that we were admiring, about 00 

 feet from the groi\nd, two fork-like twigs, but 

 on a closer examination could be seen the 

 crown and fiery eyes of a Great-horned. It 

 took no second glance this time to see that she 

 was on a nest, and one witli something in it. 

 for all the yells that we could command had 

 no more effect than a drop of oil has to a 

 flaming paper. So stepping directly under 

 the limb I fired a little to one side of the nest. 

 This seemed to have the right effect for she 

 immediately left the nest, but had not ad- 

 vanced six feet before brought to the ground 

 by the gun of my companion. 



In comparing this skin with others I find 

 that it is the largest of this species I have ever 

 seen, from tip to tip of wing forty-nine and 

 three-fourths inches. 



Xow that we had secured cine bird the next 

 thing was to secure the eggs, for we felt sure 

 there were eggs in the nest al)ove. We soon 



ime to the conclusion that it was an impossi- 

 bility without a rope, so picking up the owl 

 we hastened home, secured a fifteen-foot inch- 

 rope, a pair of climbing irons, a long clothes- 

 line and accompanied by two expert climbers, 

 once more set out for the nest. As we neared 

 the wood the male flew from a tree close by 

 but was soon stopped by the careful hand of 

 De La IJarre. 



Now the trouble arose as to who should 

 make the ascent. After all had tried and re- 

 turned the same verdict, that it was utterly 

 impossible, I determined to try and make at 

 least (me brave fight for the priioe above. Cut- 

 ting down a small hickory sapling about 

 twelve feet in length and about one inch thick 



1 wound the rope around it and fastened both 

 ends securely with a piece of clothes-line, then 



placing the whole around the tree tied the 

 ends of the large rope together, leaving enough 

 slack so that I could get between the tree and 

 rojie. With a long line about my waist and 

 one end fastened to the large rope 1 planted 

 my spur.s into the side of the tree and raising 

 the sapling a few inches was ready fiu' another 

 move. In this way I ascended foot by foot 

 until at last the dear old branch was reached, 

 then uncoiling the line from my waist I 

 threw the loo.se end over the branch and 

 again fastened it to my body; thus having the 

 inch rope secure in case of accident, I crawled 

 carefully from the rope, threw my leg over 

 the branch and was once more safe. All that 

 now remained to be done w.as to ciawl out on 

 the branch to the nest, which w-as soon accom- 

 plished. The nest was in a cavity of the 

 rotten limb about twenty inches in length by 

 twelve wide and six deej), lined with fine bark 

 and a few feathers from the breast of the owl, 

 and contained two eggs of the nsual size and 

 color. After a difficult descent we journeyed 

 honu'ward well satisfied with our day's work. 



//. IS Jlitrd. 

 .Miiinpnpi'lis, Minn. 



Wanderings, No. lo. 



(Contimied.) 



Breakfast over, we packed (uir traps for (uir 

 fin.al jonrney toward civilization. We carefully 

 extingnished the last embers of our camp-fire: 

 cut the cords which belli the rude .shelter 

 which had kejit off the rain of the first night; 

 took a final draught of the crystal waters 

 w'hich bnbldcd from the mountain side and 

 started on our way down the loggeis" road. 



It was a beautiful day; hardly a cloud 

 dimmed the crystal transparency of the blue 

 vault above us. and it seemed as though one 

 could almost look away into its unimaginable 

 distance and see the other worhls beycnid. 



The birds, which gradually were becoming 

 more plentiful as we approached nearer the 

 railroad, were filling the air with their music, 

 and tempting us to leave the road to clamber 

 over the fallen lous anil tlnimgh the under- 

 brush which lay on either side. 



The road was not as good as 1 have seen, in 

 fact it was at times rather difficult to find it at 

 all, but when we came to a more than usually 

 swampy place we found corduroys laid over 

 the mud, and we "of two evils chose the 

 least," and only left the track for an occasional 

 examination of some more than usually inter- 

 esting feature. 



