The Oologist. 



VOL. XII. NO. 5. 



ALBION, N.Y., MAY, 18!)5. 



Whole No. 115 



Rhoderick Dbu. 



It is not of Scott's hero that I am 

 going to tell yon, but a namesake which, 

 whether rightly nan'ecl or not, once fill- 

 ed a prominent niche in my life. I 

 made his acquaintance one damp da3' in 

 April, (the 22nd,) 18SJ). My brother 

 and I had been hunting all the morn- 

 ing, he after birds, I their eggs. It was 

 about eleven a.m , and we had tramped 

 nearly thongh the third piece of tirabei', 

 a low swampy tract bordering both sides 

 of Mill Creek, a small stream flowing 

 through the western half of Monroe Co , 

 N.Y..to a point near my home, where it 

 joins Black Creek in its course to the 

 Genesee river. My brother had secured 

 no game, and I only one incomplete set 

 of the Crow. Needless to say we uere 

 both getting discouraged. The swamp 

 was nearly covered with water fr.«m a 

 few inches to several feet in depth as the 

 spring freshet ha'l not subsidt d. We 

 were keeping close to one <'di;e and made 

 many trips out in the liv'lds to avoid 

 ditches or 7"ii7is as we called them which 

 had swelled to diniensioi's that luadi! 

 fording iujpossiljle in many ca~es. It 

 seemed as if both of us saw the nest at 

 the same instant. Out in the middle of 

 the swamp stooil a large elm, the largest 

 of them all and almost in the very tup 

 was an immense nest. Well, we don't 

 have eagles nests in these parts and it 

 was big to us. I know that some oolo- 

 gists can tell us of nests that would dwarf 

 this one but they can nol liud them in 

 my vicinity. Over the top stuek up 

 two little tuffs of feathers, I had seen 

 specimens of the (it. Horned Owl be- 

 fore and I ix'cognized theovvner oftho.se 

 two ear-tufts and only the oologist who 

 remembers his first nest ot this large 

 Owl can guess how excited I was. 



Jumping from tussock to log and from 

 stump to stump we made our way 

 toward the tree. When about 200 ft., 

 from the nest Mrs. Owl left, much to 

 our chagrin, as we had hoped to secure 

 her, but 200 ft. away and 75 ft., high is 

 too far for such shot as we had so she 

 got off all right. Now I had not been a 

 subscriber of the Oologist long at that 

 time and was a very "green" oologist, I 

 thought there were eggs in that nest. 

 Of course you experienced collectors 

 who get out your climbing irons in Feb- 

 ruary and take a circuit through the 

 haunts of this bird, gathering in your 

 annual fee as j'ou go, will laugh at this. 

 Enough said; / can afford to no-v. I 

 had a poor pair of home-made climbers 

 and with these I started uj) to the nest, 

 my brothel" standing guard at the foot 

 of the tree with the hope that the Owl 

 would come back and he get a shot at 

 her. How I got up I don't know now. 

 Mr. P. M Silloways experience as 

 published in the February number of 

 the OiiLOGiST describes most of my diffi- 

 culties better than I can, but I had to 

 work my way around three large crotch- 

 es to get to the nest Then I could 

 neither see nor reach over the edge. 

 It seemed an age before I worked my 

 waj' aroung ou the lower side of that 

 limb and, finally, into the nest. Then 

 what a sight met my gaze. No eggs of 

 course, but, in the midst of balls of fur, 

 bones, etc.: the remains of rabbits, 

 squirrels and pole-cats, the scent of 

 which saluted my nose in a very forward 

 and disagreeable way; sat a young Owl, 

 perhaps a week old. possibly two. I 

 i:ould not carry him down with me and 

 I did not like to leave him behind. 

 Happy thought, directly under me the 

 water was several inches deep, so, shout- 

 ing to my brother to ''take it out of the 

 water quick" I dropped tlie young binl 



