THE OOLOGIST. 



127 



noted ill the c-ity, was attacked bj' 

 ""About ten millions English Sparrows," 

 who did their best to make life miser- 

 able for him. 



Let us then have these things sn mind 

 take them home to ourselves, and ask 

 •ourselves if we wish the English Spar- 

 row to increase to the partial or entire 

 •driving out of our own birds. 



If there is any one who doubts the 

 •chai'ges made a'gaiust the English Spar- 

 I'ow he need not take an}' one's testi- 

 mouj", but let him for one year care- 

 lullj- watch the life and habits of this 

 l)ird and he will become fullv convinc- 

 ■t'd, and I venture to say that whoever 

 he is, he will not hesitate to join the 

 •ever increasing number, who proclaim 

 that the "English Sparrow must go." 



B. S. B. 

 Phelps, N. y. 



Gt. Horned Owl. 



The (it. Horned Owl is not a very 

 common bird here. At least I have 

 never l^een able to find it breeding in 

 any vei-y great abundance. 



The bird is very shy and seeks as a 

 nesting place some very retired place, 

 ■where its nest is to be found in some 

 lr)fty tree or else in some hollow rotten 

 Jimi) in an almost inacce.ssable one. 



In my experience of collecting 1 have 

 found it nesting near a house or in a 

 small tree but twice, one of these times 

 it was in a small white oak, not 

 more than 12 feet from the ground in 

 iin old crow's nest. The nest contain- 

 ed two 3'oung Owls, about two or three 

 <lays old. 



The other instance the tree was a big 

 black oak that was hollow and had 

 been broken off aljout \~> ft. from the 

 ground, down in the hollow, about two 

 feet was the nest containing two eggs, 

 perfectly fresh. I found this nest on 

 April 15, 1891, the tree stood about 30 

 rods from a house. 



I know of another tree where a pair 



of Owls and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks 

 make a home every year, and ai-e liable 

 to for some time to c(mie, as that Oolo- 

 gist who "robs" their nest must be an 

 adventuresome one. 



It is in the very top of a black oak, 

 about 75 feet high, tiie tree leans out 

 i>ver a rocky gorge so that the nest is 

 fully 125 feet from the ground. The 

 old Owls ai'c usually not very savage, 

 but sometimes they are very bold when 

 their nest is molested. 



The eggs are nearly round and al- 

 most white, ditTerent eggs show g.xeat 

 variation in size and shape. They 

 average about 1.86 x 2.25 inches. 



Tliere seems 1o be no regularity m 

 the time of nesting, as I have found 

 nests containing young at least two 

 weeks old by the 26th of Feb., and 

 nests containing fresh eggs as late as 

 April, but the last of Feb. and the first 

 part of March seems to bo tlic best 

 time. 



A I'ap on the trunk of the tree is us- 

 ually enough to scare the old bird off 

 the nest. Sometimes the old bird will 

 stay on the nest until you climb up to 

 it, and sometimes they will leave the 

 nest before you see it. Whenever you 

 hear an old Owl hooting in the spring 

 you may feel pretty sure there is a nest 

 near the place. 



The Gt. Horned Owl is more plenti- 

 ful here than the Barred Owl. Hoping 

 to hear more about the Owls through 

 the columns of the Oologist I will 

 close. 



R. M. Fkisbey, Jr. 

 Sparland, 111. 



Enemies of Our Feathered Friends- 



When standing in the dense under- 

 growth of some shady grov(^, where no 

 sound but that of nature is heard, do 

 you not often wish you were a bird, 

 with no trouble, no task, and have life 

 seem like a pleasant dream? I do; but 

 then as we look into the habits of the 



