JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. lOQ 



ItrJi NntM. 



Notes and observations upon bird life within our State are earnestly desired from all our readers 

 for publication in this column, and should be sent to the Editor, W. H. Brownson, City Building, 

 Portland, Maine. 



We note with much satisfaction the increasing frequency with 

 which the members of our society report to this Journal their 

 ornithological observations. This is an important part of our duties, 

 one to another, and should be shared in by all interested in bird 

 life. The Journal's columns are always open to contributors of 

 items of general interest relating to Maine birds, and we trust our 

 members will, through this medium, disseminate such knowledge as 

 they personall}'- possess. * 



Nesting of the Long-eared Owl in Knox County. — On 

 May 14, 1905, while strolling along a woods road in "Utopia Park," 

 Warren, Knox County, Maine, in company with a boy, on ornith- 

 ological purpose bent, I caught sight of an old Crow's nest about 

 twenty feet from the ground in a fir tree that stood near the road. I 

 had noticed the same nest, and climbed the tree to inspect it the 

 previous spring, to no purpose, however, for it was then an old, 

 deserted nest. And I was passing it by this time with only a casual 

 glance of contempt, when I caught sight of a stray, fluffy feather 

 lodged on the outside. "Ha, ha! guess that nest contains a Hawk 

 or an Owl," said I to the boy, adding: "don't you want to climb the 

 tree and see?" The boy stripped off his jacket and threw down his 

 hat and was soon half way up to the nest, when a head appeared 

 above the rira, a head with two long ears, standing straight up, 

 looking, for all the world, like a rabbit. I gave an exclamation and 

 the boy dropped to the ground as if shot. He didn't wish to face 

 the unknown! Who can blame him? By this time I had "diag- 

 nosed" the subject and pronounced it a L,ong-eared Owl. As this 

 was my "first" Owl's nest my joy was great, and I was up the tree 

 in no time. Mrs. Asio wilsoniamis peeked over the rim of the nest 

 and eyed me with misgivings, getting more and more alarmed as I 

 approached nearer and nearer, until, "the first law of nature" prov- 



