THE OOLOOIST 



nest taken on the 30th, this contained 

 three incubated eggs. The bird was 

 very loth to leave the nest and re- 

 mained in the vicinity, returning ^j 

 the nest as soon as the eggs were 

 taken and I secured a good photo of 

 her sitting beside the nest which was 

 about thirty-five feet up in the upright 

 forks of a green poplar and appeared 

 to be an old hawk's nest. Measure- 

 ments of the set are as follows: 2.28 

 xl.70, 2.22x1.77 and 2.23x1.72. 



On April 1st, I found a large nest 

 in a piece of thick poplars and spruce 

 woods about a mile north of the nest 

 taken on March 23rd, but it appeared 

 to be unoccupied. However, on re- 

 turning to it on April 6th we were 

 greatly pleased to see the round head 

 and yellow eyes of a Great Gray Owl 

 peering over the edge at us. This 

 nest contained five incubated eggs and 

 appeared to be an old hawk's nest 

 like the others and in the same posi- 

 tion, about thirty-five feet up in a 

 green poplar. 



On April 26th, I found an- 

 other Great Gray Owl sitting in a 

 rather flimsy nest near the edge of 

 a poplar woods about four miles south- 

 east of here. I had to rap repeatedly 

 on the tree before she would leave and 

 then she flew away about sixty yards 

 and lit. I went over and discovered 

 the mate sitting in a small poplar 

 which grew through the branches of a 

 small spruce. I walked right under 

 both birds only a few feet beneath 

 them and neither flew, only turned 

 their heads and stared at me as I 

 passed. 



On May 1st, I went to the nest again 

 and the bird remained on the nest 

 until it was touched by the hand 

 when she left in such a hurry that 

 she knocked one egg, which it con- 

 tained, out of the nest and it fell a 

 distance of about thirty-five feet to 

 the ground. Strange to say it did 



not break, as it fell on soft ground. 

 This egg was rotten, but I finally 

 managed to make a good specimen of 

 it. It measured 2.06x1.69. There was 

 also a yung owl in the nest. 



I have not read of the Great Gray 

 Owl breeding so far south before and 

 I am waiting with interest to see if 

 I will again find them breeding here 

 the coming season. 



The Western Horned Owl is also 

 a rather common breeder in this lo- 

 cality, and the full-grown seem to be 

 very partial to this neighborhood of 

 the river, as I have often observed 

 them, usually in pairs, sitting on some 

 over-hanging tree or root along the 

 bank while hunting bear on the Pem- 

 bina in August. 



On March 27th, a friend of mine 

 showed me a nest of the Western 

 Horned Owl in a small spruce stand- 

 ing at the edge of a muskeg. It was 

 about twenty feet from the ground 

 and appeared to be an old squirrel's 

 nest with a few sticks added and bark 

 with a few feathers for lining. It was 

 quite flat and not at all the bulky af- 

 fair I expected. I secured an excellent 

 photo of this nest and three eggs. 

 This set measured as follows: 2.28x 

 1.82, 2.29x1.82, and 2.25x1.84. They 

 were slightly incubated. 



On April 5th, I found another nest 

 of this owl about thirty feet up in 

 the u])right forks of a green poplar, 

 situated in thick poplar woods. On 

 climbing to it next day it proved to 

 contain three young, about a week old, 

 so the eggs must have been laid early 

 in March. 



On May nth, I took three eggs of 

 the Long Eared Owl from an old 

 crow's nest, about fifteen feet up in 

 a small s])ruce, a few yards back from 

 a well-traveled road. The bird was 

 sitting and flew off and joined it's 

 mate about one hundred yards away 

 from the nest. The set measured, 1.52 

 xl.26, 1.52x1.28, and 1.55x1.27. 



