April, 1880.] 



AXD OOLOGIST. 



53 



A Collecting Experience with Great 



Horned Owls and Sw^ainson's 



Hawk. 



Tln-ee miles nortli of the village of Bevna- 

 dotte lies about a half section of enclosed 

 timber and brush land, so rough and cut up 

 by hills and hollows that the former owners 

 have not considered it worth the outlay of 

 labor required to clear it up for agricultural 

 uses. All the large timber has been cut down 

 and removed, except where it is growing in 

 deep hollows. This locality is a favorite col- 

 lecting ground of mine, and from it each 

 season I obtain two or more sets of hawks' or 

 owls" eggs. 



Having previously, in my night rides, heard 

 owls hooting in these woods, I started on a 

 search for nests late in the day of February 8, 

 1888. There was a keen north-west w ind full 

 of flying snow, with the thermometer register- 

 ing close to zero. 



Knowing the natural inclination of the 

 Buhos to occupy the same nesting place or 

 locality for several seasons, I went straight to 

 a nest in a leaning white oak tree, from wliich 

 in 1887 I collected a set of three Great Horned 

 Owl's eggs. As I came to the brow of the hill, 

 the nest far below was at once seen to be occu- 

 pied. The tree on the upper side was covered 

 with a thick coat of ice, but, with the aid of a 

 pair of sharp climbers, the ascent was made 

 without much difficulty, except very cold 

 fingers. The owl did not leave the nest until 

 one-half the distance to it was climbed, which 

 led me to suspect young birds. But this fear 

 luckily was not to be realized, for in tlie nest 

 were found three eggs very much stained and 

 soiled. Although the female remained nearby 

 hooting and snapping her bill, the male did 

 not put in an appearance. 



The eggs were put in a mitten to which a 

 cord was attached, and lowered safely to the 

 ground. On blowing, they were found to be 

 about one-half incubated, and by a thorough 

 application of soap and warm water the stains 

 and dirt were removed, until they were as 

 white and handsome a set as one would wish 

 to see. 



Returning to these woods on March 14th, I 

 set to work searching for Buteoft^ nests, having 

 a few days previously located a pair flying 

 about over the locality. After getting fairly 

 on the collecting ground, a twenty minutes' 

 search located the nest, the bird occupying it. 

 It was situated on a side hill, about eighteen 

 feet up, in a scrub white oak. 



The female left the nest as soon as I dis- 

 covered it, and flew across the creek bottom to 

 a dead tree three hiuidred yards away, where 

 she was immediately joined by the male. I 

 quickly discovered from the appearance, flight 

 and action of the birds that they were not the 

 Buteo hnrealis which I had expected to find, 

 and a little later when they came flying around 

 close overhead I recognized them as Buteo 

 swainsoni. The male was the handsomer of 

 the two, smaller and more trimly built. The 

 band across the throat and breast was much 

 brighter, and he was also much more active 

 and aggressive than the female. 



The climb was an easy one, and in the nest 

 were found three eggs, fresh and clean. They 

 are greenish-white, with flakes of brown and 

 umber, appearing as though these markings 

 had been brushed over, making them indistinct. 



The nest was a bulky affair composed of 

 sticks, weed stalks, grass leaves, corn husks 

 and a few feathers. After noting down a de- 

 scription of it in my collectors' book, the eggs 

 were put in a mitten and lowered safely to the 

 ground. The action of the male during this 

 interval was interesting and novel. 



From the dead tree across the valley he 

 would start toward me as straight as an arrow 

 from the bow, screaming flercely every few 

 seconds. But just when an attack seemed in- 

 evitable, and I had prepared to duck my head 

 behind the nest, his courage would suddenly 

 fail, and veering oft" he would return to his 

 mate on the dead tree, only to repeat the per- 

 formance after an interval of a few minutes. 

 Two or three times the female started with 

 him, on the assault from the dead tree, but 

 after flying a short distance would return. 



Having watched them as long as I could, 

 and it beginning to grow dusk, I returned to 

 the ground and secured the eggs, and the owl 

 tree being but a short distance away I con- 

 cluded to make a quick run to it, not, however, 

 with much hope of making a second find. 

 Going over the ridge that intervened between 

 the hawk's and owl's nest, the latter came in 

 sight, and I saw at once by the ear tufts ap- 

 pearing over the edge that it was occupied, and 

 as I came nearer the big yellow eyes looked 

 down at me as though they would say: "What! 

 you here again !" AV^ithout waiting for an in- 

 vitation to do so, she left the nest, and I fan- 

 cied that I could see despair and disgust in her 

 every movement. Quickly running up to the 

 nest I again found it contained three eggs. 

 This time they were clean and fresh. 



Bernadotte, 111. Dr. W. S. Strode. 



