THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



Like all the other Owls the eyes are capable of being pro- 

 tected from extreme light by the birds voluntarily drawing 

 down over them a thin nictitating membrane. All the species 

 of our Owls also frequently disgorge pellets which may be 

 found under their roosting places and which consist almost 

 entirely of the bones, feathers, hair and other harder or more 

 indigestible portions of their prey. 



They are rather destructive in habits, feeding on mice, 

 squirrels, rabbits, game birds, other small birds and poultry 

 when obtainable which is rarely on account of its being gen- 

 erally housed at night when the Owls are most active. 



A most interesting experience which befell me a few winters 

 ago will well illustrate the methods of the Great Horned Owl, 

 and though perhaps the case in hand may have been the work 

 of one of the other large Owls instead, it has often been done 

 by the Great Horned Owl in other instances and as a pair of 

 these were in the vicinity I am inclined to think that it was 

 the work of one of them. 



I was going along through the woods when I came on a 

 rabbit track which I started to follow in hopes of getting a 

 shot. After proceeding a little way the tracks indicated 

 that the rabbit had taken fright and quickened its pace until 

 ultimately it was going its best, taking huge leaps without any 

 seeming cause. Shortly the track ended, there was a little 

 blood on the snow, the clear imprint of two wing tips and the 

 rabbit was gone, carried away by an Owl. 



A large proportion of the Horned Owls received by taxi- 

 dermists which I have examined smell at least faintly, often 

 strongly, of skunk so it is fair to assume that these too are 

 preyed upon. There seem to be well authenticated cases where 

 an Owl has caught a weasel to its own sorrow, the Owl killing 

 the weasel and the weasel killing the Owl. 



In late February or early March, the nesting season begins. 

 Usually the unoccupied nest of a Hawk or Crow is taken 

 possession of without any great remodelling, but very rarely 



