Many attempts have been made to subdue the naturally ferocious disposi- 
tion of this bird; but even when raised from the nest it is found to be sullen 
and treacherous, insomuch that it will, without apparent provocation, fly at its 
keeper like an infuriated tiger. I*resh meat is fed it in confinement, and any- 
thing of fish, flesh, or fowl is welcomed. 
The food of the Horned Owl in Eastern Washington consists of rabbits, 
and all the various rodents which infest meadows and sage, together with birds 
of many sorts, especially grouse. They easily cultivate an acquaintance with 
the poultry-yard, and if well fed, become so fastidious that they will have 
nothing but the brains of a fowl. Naturally, this epicurean taste is resented 
by intelligent ranchers, and the day of the Horned Owl is slowly waning. 
Nevertheless, the attachment which this bird forms for a given locality is 
very pronounced. Persecution will make it excessively wary and drive it to 
maintain almost unbroken silence, but nothing short of a fatal shot will in- 
duce it to forsake its chosen haunts. 
Where danger has not taught discretion they are quite free with their 
nocturnal concerts; but they are known to nest in places where a single full- 
voiced hoot would draw the fire of the countryside. The mating song (save 
the mark!) is a succession of resonant bellowings in a single key,—IVhoo, 
whoo, hoo-hoo, who—quite variable as to length and form. Besides this the 
bird occasionally indulges in a sepulchral laughter, hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo 
hoo, which arouses anything but mirthful feelings in the listener. 
Nesting begins earlier than in the case of any other resident species, and 
fresh eggs may be looked for by the third week in February, whatever the 
state of the weather. Hollows in trees are sometimes used, and if so, receive 
no lining; but old nests of hawk, magpie, or crow are more commonly em- 
ployed. From two to four subspherical white eggs are laid—about the size 
of hens’ eggs—and they require the services of the mother bird for about four 
weeks. During this time the male is in close attendance, feeding his mate 
upon the nest and keeping a sharp lookout for intruders. 
When disturbed the owners pose in various attitudes, grotesque and 
frightful, snapping their mandibles and now and then groaning in a most 
dismal way. If the young are well grown it is not always safe to venture near, 
for a raking shot from those powerful talons will leave a very sore head. 
Once, in Yakima County, March oth, 1887, it was, I took a set of two 
eggs well incubated, of the Western Horned Owl, from an old nest of Swain- 
son's Hawk, forty feet high in a giant balm tree. A few weeks later I came 
upon a set of four, laid by the same bird, in an old Crow’s nest in a neighbor- 
ing poplar grove; and again, a month later, a set of two in another Crow’s 
nest not a hundred feet away. These last I spared, for one does not always 
contest the rights of motherhood, even in tigers. 
