April, 1892. J 



AND OOLOGIST. 



57 



Nesting of the Great Horned Owl. 



It seems a pity that such a beautiful bird as 

 our Great Horned Owl is becoming so rare, 

 especially in and around our move populated 

 districts, for we, as lovers of birds, feel it 

 more, perhaps, than anyone else, but such is 

 tlie fact, especially in this vicinity. I must 

 confess there can be no harder temptation 

 placed before a naturalist than to see one of 

 these fine birds within gun-shot and not try to 

 secure him, especially if one has no specimen 

 already; but, on the other hand, if we were 

 better at resisting tiiese temptations we should 

 not witness the decrease of our birds so fast. 



Often have I heard my father tell iiow 

 common the " Hoot Owl," as they were called, 

 used to be around here, and in those days it 

 w^as no uncommon thing to hear two or three 

 of them answering each oMier from the differ- 

 ent woods around, especially just before a 

 severe st«rm. Those days are past and gone, 

 liowever, never to return with us, I fear. 



To my personal knowledge tliere is but a 

 single pair of these birds tiiat breed in this 

 locality, although there may be others who 

 find tliem, but I have seen no recoids given. 

 This pair is located about five miles from this 

 city, and my first acquaintance with them 

 was during the winter of 1887. 



I had often heard a near neighbor (who 

 is quite a hunter) say that he had often seen 

 th^se birds in a large swamp of hemlocks and 

 mixed timbei', nf)t far from my old home, but 

 I was not familiar with that locality, and 

 therefore did not venture there alone, for I 

 had always heard of it as a place in which one 

 could get lost very easily; but finally I deter- 

 mined to go there, so I made arrangements 

 with a young fellow who was tolerably well 

 acquainted with the woods to go with me to 

 have a hunt for them. 



On March 15, 1887, we started on our first 

 visit to see what could be found, and we had a 

 long and hard hunt, but we got there at last, 

 and secured two eggs, but it was a close call, 

 for if we had been a' few days later they would 

 never have got into my cabinet. After a tedi- 

 ous process, however, I managed to make 

 good specimens of them. 



I visited the place during the following 

 winter and hunted my best, but could not find 

 the birds, and since that time I have not had 

 the time to get thei-e again until March .5, 

 1891, when we paid them another visit. This 

 time the nest was in the open woods and was 

 not so hard to find, but the bird was very shy. 



We could see her for a long distance, as she 

 was sitting on the nest, but she left it before 

 we could get up very close. This nest con- 

 tained two eggs, and was a very odd set, one 

 being of the usual size, the other much 

 smaller. They measured: 2.32x1.86 and 

 1.98x1-64. These were badly incubated but 

 not nearly as bad as the first set. 



This year I determined to be there early 

 enough if possible, so on February 18th I gave 

 the woods a good looking over, but could not 

 with certainty locate the nest, as there were 

 so many old Hawks' and Crows' nests around, 

 but I saw unmistakable signs of the Owls, so 

 I determined to try them again. On February 

 27th I went the second time and was in luck. 

 I saw the male fly from near the nest, and the 

 female stuck close to her eggs, but after three 

 or four good raps on the tree she flew off. 

 This nest contained three eggs, which is the 

 largest set yet taken by me. They were 

 slightly incubated and measured 2.30x1.88, 

 2.23 X 1.88 and 2.21 x 1.84. 



The ni'Sts were very rudely built, and in 

 this case not very substantial. It was a 

 rickety affair, made of a heap of rubbish on a 

 foundation of sti jks, with scarcely any hollow 

 in them; and they are lined with strips of 

 bark, grass and a few feathers from the parent 

 bird. 



Two of the nests were placed in hemlock 

 trees, the other in a chestnut; an«i they were 

 from forty to fifty feet from the ground. It is 

 a mystery to me how the bird got on and off 

 of this last nest without rolling out the eggs, 

 for it was so fallen over on one side that I did 

 not dare to take out the eggs one at a time for 

 fear the rest would roll out, but probably 

 they know their own business much better 

 than I did. H. W. B. 



Bridgeport, Conn. 



Late Nesting of the Great Horned 

 Owl. 



On March 20, 1892, I collected a set of two 

 eggs of the Great Horned Owl from a hole in 

 the side of a basswood tree thirty-five feet 

 from the ground. Incubation, fresh. There 

 was no material in the nest excejit a few 

 feathers from the Owl. This must be a second 

 set, I should judge, from their nesting so late 

 in the season. Their first set was probably 

 destroyed by the Crows or a heavy storm. 



James B. Piirdy. 



Plynioutli, Wayne Co., 3Iich. 



