IHE OOLOGIST. 



51 



Will somt'ouu through the e'oluiun.s 

 of the OoLOGlST, iiiionn me how to 

 niiike a good eoUcctiug l)ox or i-asc to 

 take on an egging trip. 



A. Droukt, Jk., 

 Galveston, Texas. 



■fi 



Early Nesting of the Great Homed Owl. 



Feb. 17, of this year (18!)0) a nest of 

 this' speeies was found here which eon- 

 taiued three young at least a week old. 



The eggs in this ease must have been 

 laid by the middle of January. 



On the 5th of this month (Feb.) a nest 

 was found whieh contained one egg 

 which was broken, probabl}' by a squir- 

 rel. 



On the 15th, two more nests were 

 found, one containing two badly incu- 

 bated eggs and the other a set of four 

 fresh eggs, a large set, for this locality 

 at least. 



J. H. Brown, 

 Poweskiek Co., la. 



On Februarj^ 10th, I got out my out- 

 fit to take a triji to French Island 

 where I knew a pair of Gi-eat Horned 

 Owls had a nest. When I got to the 

 roost, I found that Mr. and Mrs. Owl 

 were not at home, so 1 commenced to 

 hunt them up. Aftei' rapping and 

 throwing clubs at a number of hollow 

 trees and old stubs in the vicinity, 1 

 started for an old elm tre(! where I 

 found a nest and took a set of eggs 

 last 3'ear. After rapping on the tree, 

 I looked up and was surprised to see a 

 pair of e;irs sticking up above the edge 

 of the hole. 1 tiirew a slick up and out 

 came Mrs. Owl and lit on a tree near 

 by. The nest was only twenty feet U]> 

 and I was twenty ft'ct up too in a M'ry 

 few minutes to lind four nice whitr 

 eggs. Inculjation had just commenced. 

 I have taken sets <jf eggs in March 

 when the snoAV was two feet deep on 

 the ground. Isn't the tenth of Febru- 



ary early to commence collecting? 

 Whit Harrison, 

 Houston Co., Minnesota. 



On Friday, January 31, 1890, I 

 thought I would take a trip to the tim- 

 ber to see what prospect there was 

 for Owls' nests this season. I succeed- 

 ed ill locating several and was very 

 well satisfied with my day's work, 

 when 1 looked oxov across the woods a 

 little ways, I saw a large bunch of sticks 

 in a large hickoiy tree. I at once went 

 over to examine the tree to see if I 

 could climb it in case the Hawks ever 

 occupied it. When I got at' the foot of 

 the tree and looked it thoroughly over, 

 I spied a half dozen or more yellowish 

 downy feathers clinging to the side 

 of the nest, so I at once procured a club 

 and tossed it towards the nest. When, 

 to my surprise, a Bubo Virginianus flew 

 off and alighted on a tree near by. I 

 thought her movements peculiar, so I 

 adorned my climbers and ascended. 

 When I reached the nest after a hard 

 climb, I was rewarded by finding one 

 egg with a young owd ready to greet 

 me, for he had a hole picked large 

 enough to admit my finger. I let him 

 remain in the nest, thinking to call 

 when he was older ami secure him as 

 my reward instead of nothing or a. 

 worthless shell. This I consider very 

 early for the Owl to lay; usually in this 

 latitude tiljout Feb. 15th. Let me hear 

 who has had like experience. 



C. B. Vandycook, 

 Marion Co., Ills. 



Large Numbers of Sandhill Cranes. 



I am of thi- oi)inion that the readers 

 of the Ooi.OGisT, ha\e never seen so 

 many and so large Sandhill Cranes as 

 we had the ph asure of seeing and 

 shooting on the S)th of Feb., 1889. They 

 were cros.sing White River Vallej' in a 

 Northerly direction, in a continuous 

 stream all the afternoon, and toward s 



