THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 385 
or rabbit, Bobwhite, Jay or Chanticleer, who dares to stir where this monster 
is a-wing. When captured in a trap, as he often is by aggrieved poultry 
fanciers, the ruffling of the feathers, the alternate hissing and fierce snapping 
of the mandibles, and the greenish yellow light which comes flashing from 
the great saucer eyes, all give fair warning of what one may expect from the 
free foot once it gets a chance to close upon a victim. 
Wheaton wrote “common resident,” but in most parts of the state this 
unwelcome bird neighbor is greatly reduced in numbers, and in some altogether 
wanting, except it be casually in winter. The only one seen recently in 
Lorain County was found March gth, 1899. In the heart of a deep wood a 
mob of twenty Crows bayed the quarry like a pack of hounds, while two 
Red-shouldered Hawks, diving and screaming overhead, gave character to the 
shifting assemblage. ‘The Owl was visibly annoyed by these attentions, but 
was holding his own until the humans appeared, when he fled incontinently 
at a hundred yards. It re- 
quired a chase of two miles, 
during which only the 
Hawks accompanied us, to 
overhaul and turn the grim 
death’s-head so as to get a 
square sight of him. 
MMiermoties sot tive 
Horned Owl are much less 
frequently heard than for- 
merly, and this is not only 
because of greater scarcity, 
but because the birds have 
learned caution. ‘They are 
known to nest in places 
where a single full-voiced 
Taken in Colorado. Photo by E. R. Warren. 
hoot would draw the fire of YOUNG HORNED OWL? 
the country-side The mat- The form is Bubo virginianus subarcticus. 
H G r é 
ing song (save the mark!) is a succession of resonant bellowings in a 
single key,—IV’hoo, 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. Nothing short of awful is the nocturnal serenade 
to which these big owls sometimes treat the camper-out. “‘‘Cat-call” is a 
faint word to express this midnight terror—‘panther screech” were fitter. 
Once in the city of Tacoma the writer was aroused from a sound slumber 
by a great commotion upon an adjoining roof, which the chamber overlooked. 
After the first shock of somnolent fright was over, it seemed as if a dozen 
1 Courtesy of the Wilson Bulletin. 
