THB OOLOOIST 



61 



No doubt the breeding habits of 

 these birds vary in different parts of 

 their range. Also I looked too early 

 in the season expecting these hardy 

 little birds of prey would be very 

 early breeders. After the first nest is 

 found it is comparatvely easy to find 

 others, as no time is lost searching 

 impossible places at impossible times. 



At Belvidere we are situated on the 

 edge of the prairie country which ex- 

 tends east to Winnipeg and south into 

 the states. To the north lies the Great 

 Northern Forest of poplars, spruce, 

 pine birch, tamarac willow, alder, etc., 

 which, broken only by smaller prairies, 

 burnes, and muskege extends north to 

 the limit of trees. The rainfall is 

 abundant, and forms of bird life 

 seems to be those of the east rather 

 than of the dryer country to the south. 

 The country in the immediate vicinity, 

 consists mainly of hills half open and 

 half wooded with numerous small 

 lakes and muskegs scattered through 

 the valleys. 



This makes an ideal country for 

 many species of birds especially water 

 fowls and birds of prey. The particular 

 haunt of the Hawk Owl is in the 

 muskeges and here they can usually 

 be found perched on some dead stub 

 watching for prey. The Owl has many 

 different calls and I will try to re- 

 produce a few of them. On February 

 19, 1914, I saw a pair in a muskeg 

 near Paddle River perched on dead 

 tamaracs. One bird was calling to its 

 mate at intervals with a screech like 

 Ku-wee of Pu-wee, and the other 

 answered with a whistle tu-wita-wit, 

 tiwita-tu-wita, wita, wita. I then 

 noticed them in the act of breeding. 

 On March 13th 1 went to look for the 

 nest but was unsuccessful. I saw one 

 of the birds and heard it screech sev- 

 eral times "sh-wee." 



On March 16th, 1915 I again went 

 out for tJie nest of the Hawk Owl and 



sound found a pair in a small mus- 

 kege. I watched them for about a 

 half hour, as I was almost certain 

 their nest was close by. One of them 

 sitting on a limb of a dead stub would 

 lean forward, tilting its tail and bow- 

 ing its head two or three times and 

 with a screech like Que-rck, the first 

 syllable drawn out, and the last short 

 and emphasized. 



I then went about a mile to another 

 muskeg and saw a number of rabbits 

 running down a draw toward me into 

 the muskeg. I watched for a coyote 

 to appear in the rear but none came. 

 1 then heard a rabbit squeal in the 

 draw and caught a glimpse of a 

 brownish animal, shaking something 

 and after waiting about five minutes, 

 a coyote walked out into the open to 

 be promptly dropped by a bullet from 

 my 30-30 carbine. While 1 was wait- 

 ing for the coyote to appear a pair of 

 Hawk Owls flew into the muskeg. 

 The two Owls stayed around until 

 evening when one of them started his 

 call or whistle, wita-wita-wita-wita, 

 several times repeated. This call can 

 be heard any mild evening in the 

 spring and is audible quite a long ways 

 off. 



On April 1st 1 went out again and 

 was only a very few minutes, after 

 reaching the muskeg in locating an 

 Owl sitting in the broken top of a 

 dead stub. As the stub was very 

 shaky I did not try to climb it but 

 went on to the muskeg where I had 

 shot the coyote. Here again I was 

 lucky and immediately found another 

 Owl sitting in the top of a dead stub. 

 I climbed to the top of a dead stul) 

 and obtained my first view of a set 

 of eggs of the Hawk Owl, seven white 

 beauties as seen in the accompanying 

 picture. When the bird left the nest 

 it lit close by and muttered a note of 

 alarm 1 had not heard before like 

 "rike" repeated at intervals, 



