THE AMERICAN BARN OWL. 327 



using rlie same site, a dovecot in the barn. In soutliern Texas tliey beo-in 

 laying about the latter part of February or the beginning of March, sind 

 corresjxmdingly hiter northward. 



At Washington City, District of Cohimbia, where the Barn Owl is by no 

 means rare, they begin nesting from the last week in April to about the 10th 

 of May, and I know of at least three broods having been raised within the 

 city limits during- the season of 1890. A pair of these Owls have been 

 nesting off and on for years in one of the towers of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion Ijuilding, and oecu[)ied this site again during the spring of 1890, rear- 

 ing a family of seven young. As the supply of these birds in the zoological 

 collection now forming at the national capital consisted of but a single speci- 

 men, which had l)cun kept in confinement there for some months, the young 

 above mentioned were taken from tlie nest before they were quite ready to fly 

 and placed in the cage with the one already there; she at once adopted the 

 orphans, and cared for and fed them as diligently as if they had been her own. 



The Barn Owl, strictl}' speaking, makes no nest. If occupying a natural 

 cavity of a tree the eggs are placed on the ruljbish that may have accumulated 

 at the bottom; if in a liank, they are laid on the bare ground and among the 

 pellets of fur and small bones ejected by the parents. Fi-equently quite a lot of 

 such material is found in their burrows, the eggs lying on and among this 

 refuse. Incubation usually commences with the first e^yg laid, and lasts about 

 three weeks. The eggs are almost invariably found in different stages of devel- 

 opment and young may be found in the same iiest with fresh eggs. Both sexes 

 assist in incubation, and the pair may be sometimes found sitting side by side, 

 each with a portion of the eggs under them. 



Besides the peevish scream alreiuly mentioned, they utter at times a feeble 

 (pierulous note like "quiiek-quaek," or "iiek-aek," sounding somewhat like the 

 call of the Night Hawk (^Clionleiles virginianus), frequently repeated, only not so 

 loud. Like most Owls, they snap tlieir mandibles when disturl)ed, producing a 

 sort of clicking sound; at other times they make an unpleasant hissing noise 

 like that of escaping steam. During the daytime the}' are sleepy, sad looking 

 l)ir(ls, l)ut alert and active enougli at night. 



In disposition they are amiable, seldom fighting each other, even when 

 feeding. Their quarry, if small, is firmly grasped with one fiiot; when larger, 

 like a good sized Norway rat, the l)ird stands upon and holds it firmly witli 

 both feet, tearing it gradually to pieces, nearly always beginning with the head, 

 which appears to be the part most liked. 



The average number of eggs laid by this species is from five to seven, sel- 

 dom less. Larg'er sets containing from nine to eleven eggs are by no means 

 uncommon; it is questionable, however, if every egg in such large sets is 

 usually hatched. 



in shape the eggs are mostly ovate, a few are elliptical ovate, and a single 

 specimen before me is elongate ovate. They are pure dead wliite in color, the 

 shell is finely granulated, and they are decidedly more pointed than Owls' eggs 

 in general. 



