THE LONG-EARED OWL. 69 
in its nocturnal vambles; and I think that it hunts in 
silence, except, perhaps, in the mating season. 
The specimen in my possession would not eat in the day- 
‘time; and, if I fed it then, was obliged to push the food down 
its throat mith my eee at night, it fed readily on raw 
meat, but was rather loath to eat when I was by, or when a 
lamp was near its cage. I had water always accessible to 
it, but never saw it drink, and think, that, in the space of 
two months, it drank not more than two or three times ; or, 
if it did, the quantity it took was so small as not to be 
appreciable. 
Notwithstanding the comparative abundance of this spe- 
cies, its breeding habits are not well known. I have been 
so fortunate as to find several nests, all of which were built 
in forks of tall pines, and constr ueted of twigs and leaves. 
Audubon says : — 
“The Long-eared Owl is careless as to the situation in which 
its young are to be reared, and generally accommodates itself with 
the abandoned nest of some other bird that proves of sufficient 
size, whether it be high or low, in the fissure of a rock or on the 
ground. Sometimes, however, it makes a nest itself; and this I 
found to be the case in one instance near the Juniata River, in 
Pennsylvania, where it was composed of green twigs, with the 
leaflets adhering, and lined with fresh grass and wool, but without 
any feathers.” 
Wilson describes its breeding habits as follows : — 
“ About six or seven miles below Philadelphia, and not far from 
the Delaware, is a low swamp, thickly covered with trees, and 
inundated during a great part of the year. This place is the resort 
of great numbers of the qua bird (Night Heron), where they build 
in large companies. On the 25th of April, while wading through 
the dark recesses of this place, observing the habits of these birds, 
T discovered a Long-eared Owl, which had taken possession of one 
of their nests, and was setting. On mounting to the nest, I found 
it contained four eggs; and, breaking one of them, the young 
appeared almost ready to leave the shell. There were numbers of 
