ANDERSON — THE BIRT:)S OF IOWA. 263 



in two distinct phases of coloration, the red and the gray, both 

 being about equally numerous. The color phases are not depend- 

 ent upon age, sex, or season, and both phases are sometimes rep- 

 resented in the same brood. The nest is placed in a natural hol- 

 low of an old tree, frequently in an old apple orchard. The 

 nesting time is usually in April, but is somewhat irregular. April 

 27, 1895, I found a nest in the top of a dead basswood stub near 

 Forest City, thirty feet from the ground, containing five fresh 

 eggs, while another nest, a short distance from the first, con- 

 tained five young birds on April 27, 1S96. The Screech Owl fre- 

 quently comes into towns, and its weird, trenuilous, wailing 

 whistle may often be heard at night from the shade trees at our 

 doors. 



"Of 225 stomachs examined, i contained poultry; 38, other 

 birds; 91, mice; 11, other mammals; 2, lizards: 4, batrachians; 

 I, fish; 100, insects; 5, spiders; g, crawfish; 7, miscellaneous 

 matter; 2, scorpions; 2, earthworms; and 43 were empty. . . . 

 At nightfall the}- begin their rounds, inspecting the vicinit}- 

 of farm houses, barns and corncribs, making trips through the 

 orchard and nurseries, gliding silently across the meadows or 

 encircling the stacks of grain in search of mice and insects. 

 Thousands upon thousands of mice of different kinds thus fall 

 victims to their industry. Their economic relations, therefore, 

 are of the greatest importance, particularly on account of the 

 abundance of the species in many of the farming districts, and 

 whoever destro^^s them through ignorance or prejudice should 

 be severely condemned " (Fisher, Hawks and Owls, 166-173). 



Geiuis Bubo Dumeril. 



167. (375). BuLw I'irginianns (Cimel.). Great Horned Owl. 



The Great Horned Owl is a tolerably common resident in all 

 parts of the state wherever moderate-sized patches of timber 

 remain. The amount of territory required to support a pair of 

 rapacious birds, and the constant persecution to which they are 

 subjected, prevent the species from ever becoming abundant. 



The Great Horned Owl is generally considered as injiu-ious, 

 being the only one of our Owls which preys on poultry and birds 

 to any extent. It feeds upon rabbits largely, and where the rab- 

 bits are so numerous as to be injurious to trees and shrubbery, 



