THE MOTTLED OWL. 67 - 
are then generally of a reddish-brown, although considerable differ- 
ences exist between individuals, as I have seen some of a deep- 
chocolate color, and others nearly black. The feathers change 
their colors as the pairing season advances, and in the first spring 
the bird is in the perfect dress.” : 
J. P. Norris, writing in the “Country Gentleman,” 
Jan. 11, 1866, says that he secured two young birds of this 
species when covered with down, and kept them until they 
had become feathered, when their plumage was decidedly 
red in color. 
J. P. Giraud, in his “Birds of Long Island,” gives a 
letter from J. G. Bell, of New York, in which that gentle- 
man says, that he has taken the young birds from the nest, 
covered with grayish-brown, and kept them through their 
first plumage, which was red in color. 
These and other writers seem to agree that the red plum- 
age is that of the bird in the first year. I leave it to 
future experimenters to determine the matter beyond a 
doubt. 
This bird feeds largely on the injurious night-flying 
moths and beetles. Numbers of specimens that I have 
‘examined, contained in their stomachs parts of these in- 
sects and small mammals: very seldom indeed did they 
have feathers or other parts of birds. 
The Mottled Owl selects for a nesting-place a hollow 
tree, often in the orchard, and commences laying at about 
the first of May, in the latitude of the middle of Massachu- 
setts. The nest is made at the bottom of the hollow, and 
is constructed of grass, leaves, moss, and sometimes a few 
feathers. It is not elaborately made, being nothing more 
than a heap of soft materials. The eggs are usually four 
in number: they are pure-white, smooth, and nearly spher- 
ical in form. Their length varies from 1.30 to 1.37 inch; 
breadth from 1.18 to 1.25 inch. The eggs are often laid on 
the chips at the bottom of the hollow; no attempt at a 
nest being made. 
