372 THE AMERICAN BARN OWL, 
AS late as 1880 only five records of the appearance of this bird within 
the state were known to Dr. Wheaton, and none had ever been seen in 
Indiana. Soon after that there was a notable increase in numbers north 
of the Ohio River. Mr. Charles Dury of Cincinnati discovered a small 
colony in the town hall at Glendale, Ohio, Oct. 18th, 1883, and concluded 
they must have nested there the previous season. Some idea of the birds’ 
usefulness in the community was conveyed by the “pellets,” or little spheres 
of indigestible matter ejected by the Owls from time to time. “They cov- 
ered the floor several inches deep in places. I examined many of them and 
found them made up entirely of the hair and bones of the smaller rodents, 
mostly mice. 
There must 
have been 
the debris of 
several thou- 
sand mice 
and rats. 
Captain Ben- 
dire is certain 
that the cap- 
tures of a sin- 
gle pair of 
Barn Owls, 
during the 
nesting sea- 
son, exceed 
those of a 
dozen cats 
for the same 
period. 
The species 
has lately been reported from various points all over the state, including sev- 
Taken near Circleville. Photo by Dr. Howard Jones. 
A NESTING SITE OF THE BARN OWL 
eral along the Lake Erie shore; but the only region where it is yet called 
common is in the lower Scioto Valley. Rev. W. F. Henninger, at Waverly, 
mounted ten specimens brought in to him at various times from 1898 to 
1901. He says the birds are known locally as “White Owls,” and that they 
frequent the bottom lands adjoining the Scioto River, breeding most com- 
monly in the large sycamores which line that stream. 
The Barn Owl, as its name indicates, often passes the day in barns or 
outbuildings, being drawn thither solely by the abundance of mice which 
such places afford. It is said to be a very quiet, peaceable bird, offering no 
violence to the poultry, not even to the pigeons which often share its quar- 
