ii6 



THE MUSEUM. 



side the climbers and a collecting box, 

 ball of twine, tape measure and some 

 cotton, belonged to the climbing de- 

 partment. There were three weapons 

 along this tiine, two shot guns and a 

 repeating rifle. Just imagine a battal- 

 ion of soldiers going out fully equipped 

 to wage war on one small bird! But 

 "where there is a will, there is loco- 

 motion," and that owl and its eggs had 

 to be added to be cabinet. 



As we approached the nest we 

 heard hundreds of crows cawing all at 

 the same time. Soon we saw that 

 they had some object that they were 

 worrying, which proved to be the ob- 

 ject of our search. Now this was the 

 "modus operandi." We scattered 

 around in the woods and kept still un- 

 til the crows drove our quarry toward 

 one of us. It was not long until a 

 shot rang out and a cry of victory fol- 

 lowed it. The owl had flown the 

 wrong direction for his own good. He 

 dropped on his back and held up his 

 talons for a defence. This is where 

 the ferocious nature of the bird of prey 

 can be seen to the best advantage. 

 When wounded they try to drop on 

 their back and fight with beak and 

 talons. This owl could look right at 

 the sun without even blinking, and 

 when a gun barrel was presented to 

 him he seized it and clung to it with 

 wonderful tenacity. He was soon dis- 

 patched however, and then we turned 

 our attention to the nest. 



I tried to climb this time. First we 

 nailed strips on the tree until we had 

 no more. Then the "rub" came in, 

 and it was a hard one. The climbers 

 were brought into activity and in about 

 half an hour I found myself about half 

 way up. But to make a long story 

 short I finally got to the nest, and an- 



other cry of victory was heard. I low- 

 ered the two large eggs the nest con- 

 tained and then ■ took measurements. 

 Meanwhile the friends were telling me 

 how nice it was down there on solid 

 ground with no danger of breaking 

 their necks, and how nice the weather 

 was, and many like things. Perhaps 

 if I had not had my mouth full of bark 

 and lichens I would have said some- 

 thing too. But I came down soon, 

 and what a sight I was. My wrists 

 were bleeding from being chafed by 

 the bark, all the buttons were off my 

 coat and I looked as if I had been 

 drawn through a knot hole. 



The following measurements were 

 taken: Nest, situated 63 feet from the 

 ground in an oak tree, measured 44 

 inches in diameter. It was composed 

 of sticks and twigs, some of them quite 

 large; it was lined with fur, feathers 

 and bones of birds and animals and 

 had a strong odor of skunk. The eggs, 

 two in number, measured 2.00x1.45 

 and 2.25x1.90. The eggs were of a 

 dirty white color, and the incubation 

 was two thirds advanced. But a little 

 caustic potash soon turned the young 

 birds to liquid. The old bird mea.s- 

 ured 4 feet 4 inches from tiji to tip, and 

 32 inches in length. The bird captur- 

 ed proved to be a male. He now lies 

 in my cabinet with a neat little label 

 attached to his legs. 



Paul W. Roth, 

 Class of '99 at Thiel College, Pa. 



W. F. Webb, 

 Albion, N. Y. 



Sir: 



Please find enclosed $1.00 

 to pay for the Museum for "J6. I would not 

 be without it. 



Very Truly, 



S . W. Harris, 

 Reading Ave., 

 Hillsdale, Mich. 



