HISTORY OF CERTAIN GREAT HORNED OWLS—KEYES. 397 
forms the north boundary of the pasture and the woods. Suddenly 
the hooting of big owls boomed out from a near-by linden of the timber 
pasture, and there, sure enough, were both birds engaged in ardent 
courtship and not minding our presence in the least. They stood 
facing each other on the same branch and, with feathers ruffled and 
heads bobbing, were hooting in low tones as they side-stepped toward 
one another and greeted one another with low bows. Finally they 
flew away, side by side, into the timber tract. That these were 
transient birds was beyond belief; so, on February 17, after allowing 
what seemed to be a fair margin of time, I decided to give the vicinity 
athoroughsearch. To make the story short, the nest was at last found 
in the very place where previously it had not seemed worth while to 
look. It was not in the heavy timber at all, but in one of the large 
elms of the pasture, and, moreover, hardly more than 50 yards 
removed from the above-mentioned public road where teams were 
constantly passing. Toward the south the view was wild, open, and 
picturesque, enough; to the west, north, and east, at distances varying 
from 200 to 500 yards, were the schoolhouse and farmhouses, as above 
stated. 
A more fortunate set of conditions for the study of the owls’ home 
life could hardly be hoped for. The short distance from town has 
already been indicated. The nest was in a large shallow hollow, 
28 by 32 inches in diameter at the bottom, with an entrance 18 by 20 
inches in diameter set at an angle of 45° and facing toward the south- 
east. The hollow was only 8 inches deep on the exposed side, thus 
permitting fairly good illumination. Of still more importance the 
nest site was only 22 feet from the ground and a strategic branch 
some 5 feet above the nest afforded a point of attachment for a ladder 
combination from which pictures might be taken. As great horned 
owls generally make use of old hawks’ nests placed in the tops of the 
largest trees the good fortune of this modest elevation can readily 
be appreciated. At the very moment when this nest was discovered 
a second pair of these birds was domiciled in a redtail’s nest placed 
in a tall white elm in heavy timber 33 miles to the northwest and just 
92 feet above the ground. Further, the proximity of farmhouses 
made certain the necessary supply of ladders and ropes. Mr. Bene- 
dict, who lived just across the road and only 200 yards to the east, 
and Mr. McFarland, whose house stood only 75 yards farther to 
the east, were our interested and generous benefactors. Our oppor- 
tunities were indeed great and, as I said, we greatly regretted our 
inability to make better use of them. 
The weather on February 17 was fairly moderate, with the snow 
melting slightly, though the preceding days from February 6 had 
been stormy enough, with temperatures as severe as 10 below zero. 
But the sitting bird was wonderfully protected from the storm 
