ANDERSON — THE BIRDS OF IOWA. 26 I 



rather rare summer resident. A set of six eggs in my collection 

 was found by M. E. Halvorsen, May 16, 1896, near Forest City. 

 The nest was on the ground in a nearly dried marsh, placed be- 

 tween two bog clumps of earth; composed of a few blades of grass 

 and some feathers. 



Genus Syrnium Savigny. 



^63. (368). Svniiuni vorium (Barton). Barred Owl. 



The Barred Owl, or "Hoot Owl," is a tolerably common resi- 

 dent in Iowa, particularl}- in the eastern part of the state, wher- 

 ever there are considerable tracts of heavy timber. Their weird, 

 sonorous, and often-repeated note of -cr/ioo-'n'/ioo-ic/ioo, with many 

 variations, has earned for them the common name of Hoot-owls. 

 This hooting sometimes sounds like a hollow laugh, dying away 

 in a mournful wail. The effect is often startling. The nest is 

 usually in a hollow tree or stub, ver}- rarely an open nest, and the 

 eggs are generally laid in the latter part of March or in April. A 

 ver}' early record is given b\' Bendire: "The t3^pe specimen (egg) 

 No. 20633, Bendire collection, from a set of three, was taken by 

 Mr. G. Peck in Blackhawk county, Iowa, March 2, 1878. It is 

 figured on plate xii, fig. 4" (Life Histories of N. A. Birds, 336). 



"Of 109 stomachs, 5 contained poultr}' or game; 13, other birds; 

 46, mice; 18, other mammals; 4, frogs; i, a lizard; 14, insects; 2, 

 spiders; 9, crawfish, and 20 were empt}-. ... If a fair balance 

 be struck, therefore, it must be considered that this Owl is on the 

 whole beneficial, and hence should occupy a place on the list of 

 birds to be protected" (Fisher, Hawks and Owls, 150-55). 



Genus Scotiaptex Swainson. 



164. (370). Scotiaptex nebulosa (Forster). Great Gray Owl. 



The Great Graj^ Owl is a resident of the far north and only 

 occurs in Iowa as a casual straggler in winter. It was listed by 

 J. A. Allen in White's Geology of Iowa, 1870 (p. 424), and it has 

 been "reported on Dec. 17, 1893, near Omaha, by I. S. Trostler" 

 (Rev. Bds. Neb., 55). T. M. Trippe records (Proc. Bost. Soc, xv, 

 1872, 233): "Syrnium cinereum. A very large bird was killed at 

 Oskaloosa, in Mahaska county, which, from the description given 

 me by the person who shot it, must have been this .species." 



Walter G. Savage writes from Hillsboro, \'an Buren count}-: 



[Proc. D. .'\. S., Vol.. XI.l 36 [Xov. o, 1906.) 



