EAGLE OWL. 49 



young bird hatcLeJ, the offspring of a female then ten 

 years old, and a cock bird about half that age. Mr. 

 Fountaine had come to the conclusion that birds of this 

 class inter-breeding so closely were not prohfic, but in 

 this case the parent birds, although the offspring of the 

 same old pair, were bred in different seasons. Through 

 the kindness of that gentleman I am now enabled to 

 bring down these nesting accounts, both as to young 

 and old birds, to the present time, although the same 

 success does not seem to have attended the later 

 hatchings. In 1860, a pair of young birds brought 

 up one nestling, but there were none from the old 

 pair. In 1861, two young ones were brought up by 

 the old pair only. In 1862, an old blind female, pre- 

 sented to Mr. Fountaine some time ago, paired off 

 with a male hatched in 1850, and two young birds were 

 brought up. In the same year a young pair also had 

 one nestling, but which was instantly devoured by its 

 unnatural parent in consequence, says Mr. Fountaine, 

 *' of my putting a hen's egg under her to keep her 

 on the nest until she was inchned to sit, and as I forgot 

 to take away the hen's egg she hatched it and eat it, 

 and served her own young one the same." No young 

 that year from the original pair. In 1863 the blind 

 bird laid, but her eggs proved of no use. The old pair 

 brought up one nestling, and the young pair also had 

 one yoimg one, but the hen bird pulled its head off 

 when about two weeks old, in consequence, it is 

 supposed, of her being alarmed one night by the light 

 of a lantern. In 1864, another young pair nested 

 towards the end of February, and laid three eggs, but 

 from the severity of the weather and high winds all the 

 time there was not sufficient warmth to hatch them. 

 Neither the original pair, nor the blind female, did 

 anything this year, but another young pair had three 

 good eggs, which should have been hatched in the end 



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