In the Woods. 187 



mature birds lack the yellow hood, the head being green, with more or less 

 yellow or orange on the forehead and in front of the eyes. 



It is rather noteworthy that we have no exact information as to the 

 nesting habits of these birds ; some accounts speak of them breeding in hollow 

 trees, and others of their building nests on branches. 



The eggs are white, and are one inch and a third long, by about an inch 

 and a tenth in their other diameter. 



The whole subject is well worthy of attention, so that we may have 

 definite knowledge in regard to their nesting and breeding before the disap- 

 pearance of the Paroquet, which now seems imminent, renders such investi- 

 gation impossible. 



This is the only large sized owl with pronounced ear tufts that we have 



in Eastern United States. The males are about twenty-two inches in length 



and the female, which is noticeably larwr, often is over two 



urea orne w . ^^^^ long. The upper parts have a general brown tone 



Bubo virginianus (Gmcl.). 111 r i- r • 1 1 r 1 



produced by a hne motthng oi various shades ot ochre, 

 brown, and black. The discs about the yellow eyes are similar in color but 

 lighter in shade. There is a white patch on the throat. The rest of the un- 

 der parts are yellowish buff, barred with black. The feathers extend to the 

 tips of the toes. These birds breed very early in the year. At Princeton, 

 New Jersey, I took a nest with three nearly fresh eggs, on February 19th, 

 1879. This was high up in an old chestnut, where a large limb, broken by 

 the wind, was hollowed by decay. This had evidently been occupied by a 

 gray squirrel. It was six inches deep and about a foot in diameter. The 

 white eggs were nearly two inches and a quarter long and one inch and four 

 fifths in their other diameter. The nests are more frequently made in de- 

 serted crows' and hawks' nests. 



The birds occupy that part of Eastern North America east of the Mis- 

 sissippi Valley, from Labrador south, and are resident, breeding throughout 

 their range. While beneficial in destroying many of the smaller rodents as 

 well as reptiles, these birds are very destructive to poultry and many wild 

 birds ; quail, doves, even the larger hawks as well as song birds forming no 

 inconsiderable part of their diet. 



This geographical race of the Great Horned Owl occupies Western North 



