70 



THE OOLOGIST 



found that it held spider webs and 

 many chips. However, the excavation 

 had been made quite recently and was 

 about 10 inches in depth. 



Now there still remain a few pairs 

 of these elegant birds in our Green 

 County woods. Perhaps sometimes I 

 shall be so fortunate as to locate an 

 occupied nest, and if so I shall be the 

 happiest man in all these parts, for 

 there is no bird that lends to me the 

 attractiveness that does the noble 

 pileated woodpecker. 



The Great Black-Backed Gull on the 

 Hudson River. 



The Great Black-backed Gull (Larus 

 marinus) during the past winter has 

 been rather common on the Hudson 

 River from Yonkers to the Battery and 

 even more so on upper New York Bay. 



On December 7th the first of the 

 season appeared off Barclay Street, 

 Manhattan and was feeding on the 

 river in company with the Herring 

 Gulls which were unusually abund- 

 ant on this particular date. On the 

 17th two individuals were observed 

 off Hoboken near midstream, both 

 resting on the surface of the river. On 

 the 23d one was seen near the Frank- 

 lin Street piers, Manhattan. This also 

 was resting on the river surface. 



In .January ten were recorded dur- 

 ing the month. On the 5th, one was 

 observed just west of Governor's 

 Island. On the 10th, two were seen 

 near the ship canal at Spuyten Duyvil 

 and about an hour after one was ob- 

 served near the Edgewater Ferry at 

 130th Street, Manhattan. On the 18th 

 one was observed flying low over the 

 river at Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 

 On the 26th, four individuals were seen 

 near St. George, Staten Island. On 

 the 29th one was recorded off Christo- 

 pher Street, Manhattan. 



During February seven individuals 

 were observed, two near Liberty Island 



on the 4th; one off the sugar refinery 

 at Yonkers on the 8th; two near mid- 

 stream just above Twenty-third Street, 

 Manhattan, on the 10th, and two near 

 the southern end of Governor's Island 

 on the 14th. 



The above records constitute the 

 most abundant season that the writer 

 has experienced with these birds dur- 

 ing the past decade and a half. 



Louis S. Kohler. 



Bubo Virginianus. 



The Great Horned Owl. 



I want to state my experience in ob- 

 serving the nesting and collecting the 

 eggs and young in the different sea- 

 sons and dates from 1891 to 1912 and 

 show the variation which in these 

 years amounted to twenty-six days, in 

 9 years from one location: 



Set of 3 March 9th, 1891. 



Set of 2 March 9th, 1893. 



Set of 2 March 16th, 1894. 



Set of 2 March 9th, 1895. 



Set of 2 April 5th, 1896, in vacated 

 nest of Hawk in nearby high pine. 



Set of 2 March 18th, 1901. 



Set of 2 March 16th, 1904. 



Set of 2 March 20th, 1911. 



Set of 2 March 20, 1912. 



Seven of these sets were taken from 

 the same nest which was located in 

 a large cavity produced by the break- 

 ing down of a very large limb on an 

 old elm tree, large enough so that I 

 could stand erect in it, and one set 

 in a nearby pine tree in a vacated 

 Hawk nest after the elm tree was cut 

 down. 



Later I found a nest of the Great 

 Horned Owl which contained three 

 very large young, and took them home. 

 One of them I presented to Brother 

 Crucius in Casisius College and it 

 was a great favorite with the brothers. 

 It was kept in the college and had free 

 access to their dining room. When 

 they called for "Hans" it came to them 



