168 



THE OOLOGIST. 



feathers in the branches and on the side 

 of the nest, showing that the birds had 

 often passed to and fro. All these sets 

 and nests were those of the Western 

 Horned Owl. 



This year on March 17th I thought I 

 would enjoy a ramble in the woods. It 

 was a lovely day and mild, and as the 

 snow was too deep in the woods for 

 comfortable walking I took the course 

 of the river and walked on the ice, which 

 was smooth and without snow from a 

 previous t aw. About two and one- 

 half miles east of the town I visited a 

 Red-tail's nest in a large oak tree, from 

 which I had secured a set of eggs last 

 spring, and as I clambered up the river 

 bank I noticed Owl feathers In the 

 branches and on the edges of the nest. 

 As I drew closer I could see the tell- 

 tale tufts and knew 1 had located Mrs. 

 Bubo's intended nursery. As it was 

 Sunday I did not climb, but made up 

 my mind that I would visit this nest 

 again, so on the 23d as the river was 

 still frozen I hitched my horse to the 

 cutter and drove do^n to see how Mrs. 

 Bubo was prospering. Arrived at the 

 wooded point, almo t an island, well 

 timbered with oak, elm and basswood, 

 I left the rivdr and following my path 

 of last Sunday soon reached the foot of 

 the tree. Mrs. Bubo was at home and 

 I began the ascent. The tree was so 

 large I could not shin it, so I climbed a 

 small sapling and swung over till I 

 could climb into the first fork. After 

 this, as there were plenty of branches, 

 I soon reached the nest. The old bird 

 flew off as I neared it and alighting on 

 a dead tree close by watched me. 



As 1 peered over the edge of the nest 

 four handjome egg3 arrested my gaze, 

 and raising myself above the nest I took 

 notes. The nest was large, 20 inches in 

 diameter and was in better repair than 

 usual. The cavity also was deeper, 9 

 inches in diameter, just holding the four 

 eggs nicely. Quite a lot of downy 

 feathers were caught in the branches 



near the nest and on the edge of the- 

 nest and a few of these also composed a 

 lining. 



While taking my notes the male bird 

 came flying by and made a dash at me, 

 and both male and female began scold- 

 ing me for my intrusion, uninvited into 

 their home, snapping their bills and 

 hissing at me and calling to each other 

 "Hoo, Hoo." I had a fine view of them 

 as they sat in the tree-top close by, 

 every few minutes making a dash at me 

 as though to drive me from their home. 

 The smaller size and very light color 

 and pure white feet told me that I had, 

 without doubt, found a nest of the Arctic 

 Horned Owl [Bubo virginianus arcticus) . 

 After taking all notes and getting the 

 height of the branch on which the nest 

 rested, an overhanging one and 35 feet 

 from the ground, I descended, returned 

 to my cutter and followed the course of 

 the river to where the bush ended, find- 

 ing no mora nests. 



Oq March 29th I tried the river west 

 and as the ice was getting pretty rotten 

 the cutter broke through and I nearly 

 got a cold bath. However, I saved my- 

 self by reaching out my arm and righted 

 the cutter with only an arm wet to the 

 elbow. On this occasion I found in a 

 basswood tree in a Red-tail's nest, old 

 and dilapidated, a set of two Western 

 Horned Owl's eggs. Both were incu- 

 bated and as is usual the one about a 

 week more than the other. This nest 

 was 25 feet up and in a tree quite close 

 to the river bank. The nest was very 

 flat and well adorned with the yellow- 

 ish downy feathers of its occupant. I 

 took the eggs and as the unsafe state of 

 the ice prevented further progress re- 

 turned home. 



Now to sum up. These birds seen in 

 this northern latitude are very early 

 breeders, nesting always while the snow 

 is on the ground, dates being from the 

 17th of March until 1st of April. I have 

 never known them to construct their 

 own nest. They always seiza on the 



