234 BULLETIN" 15 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



foot from the trunk which was then lowered into the hole to form 

 a ladder down which descent was easy. Below the column on which 

 the owl rested regularly was a considerable accumulation of bones 

 from its prey while beneath a slight ledge projecting out over the 

 floor of the sink was a nest containing two young in the down, one 

 developing pin feathers on the wings and the other somewhat 

 younger. (PL 18.) There was no nesting material other than an 

 accumulation of pellets and other refuse. The young uttered char- 

 acteristic growling, hissing notes and shrank away as the nest site 

 was examined. The half eaten body of a rat lay beside them, and 

 the parent bird flushed from its shelter, seeming confused as it half 

 flew and half clambered along the rocky wall to a height of six feet 

 and then flew to a perch at the opposite end of the sink. A quantity 

 of pellet material was collected for examination. A native boy 

 plucked a few filaments of down from one of the young, putting them 

 away carefully and on questioning explained somewhat sheepishly 

 that they were " pour la remede." 



The young bird taken is covered with long soft down in color 

 somewhat duller than light buff. 



Bond says that according to natives this species does not occur on 

 Gonave Island. Ekman writes " an owl has been seen and heard 

 repeatedly by the keepers of the lighthouse " on Navassa Island, 

 an interesting observation that should refer to the barn owl. The 

 food of the barn owl is composed largely of rats, with a fair number 

 of birds and occasional lizards. For the benefit of those not familiar 

 with the feeding habits of these birds it may be stated that their 

 prey is torn apart and swallowed in fragments, the bird consuming 

 skin, bones, fur, scales, and many feathers though birds except those 

 of smallest size are usually partly plucked. The digestive processes 

 of the stomach remove the nutriment from such masses, and the 

 bones and other indigestible parts are formed into pellets which at 

 the proper time are regurgitated leaving the stomach empty for 

 another meal. Pellets accumulate in quantity beneath perches fre- 

 quented by these owls and from their content serve as a ready index 

 to the food preferences of the bird, it being necessary only to identify 

 the skulls and other bones found in them. There follows an account 

 of four sets of such pellets collected in the field and examined by 

 Wetmore in Washington. 



In March, 1925 G. S. Miller, jr., secured a number of barn owl 

 pellets from a cave at Diquini, not far from Port-au-Prince. From 

 these he removed a large number of brown rat remains (Rattus rat- 

 tus) and skulls and other bones of bats, in search for other mamma- 

 lian species. Other bones were identified by Wetmore. These included 

 jaws of a small lizard {AnoJis sp.) remains of a small tree-toad 



