The Bam Owl (btrix pratincola^ in Chester County, 

 Pennsylvania 



BY THOMAS H. JA; KSON 



With the disappearance of some species of birds, and tlie 

 growing scarcity of others, it is alwaj's a pleasure to know that 

 some of our birds are at least holding their own, or even show- 

 ing a marked increase in numbers in certain districts. 



Although always more or less abundant along the Delaware 

 River and its adjacent low-lying meadow lands, where the 

 supply of its favorite food is practicallj' inexhaustible, the Barn 

 Owl has always been considered a rara avh in Chester county 

 until within a comparatively recent period. Since 1870, the 

 writer has paid considerable attention (o our local birds, and 

 it is only within recent years that the Barn Owl has seemed to 

 occupy a place amongst our regular summer residents. 



Within the last ten }'ears a constantly increasing number of 

 these birds have been brought in to our local taxidermists, and 

 these have nearly all been young birds. The late Henry Gar- 

 rett received quite a number of them, and nearly all came from 

 Willistown township. 



All efforts to trace these birds to a nesting place failed, until 

 the spring of 1902, when, after hearing the description of a cur- 

 ious "White Owl" that had been found in a nest the year 

 before, I located a female Barn Owl sitting on six eggs. Tliis 

 was on the 15th of May, and one egg was already "pipped." 

 The nest was in a large, isolated maple tree that stood on the 

 edge of Ridley creek in East Goshen township. The cavity was 

 a very roomy one and was about twenty feet from the ground. 

 Sometime during incubation the male bird was probably killed, 

 as he was found dead near the nest. Possibly this accounted 

 in part for the fact that only two birds out of the six eggs that 

 were hatched reached maturity. 



(2(5) 



