The Great Horned Owl 303 
daring. The same is true of some of our hawks 
which have been known to fly within a few feet of a 
man and pounce upon and carry off a chicken. Owls 
usually make such visits by night, but occasionally 
during the winter, when food is scarce, they get into 
the habit of visiting the farmyard in the daytime. 
Immediately upon the capture of the fowl, the owl 
retreats to the woods, but, the load being heavy, the 
bird sometimes stops to rest upon the broad rail of a 
fence, or upon a log, or even upon the ground. At 
such times the owl plainly shows its nature by holding 
to the fowl, even when followed. When such stops 
are made, with a little careful manceuvring, the owl 
may be approached near enough to be photographed. 
From early experience it was learned that a man on 
horseback could ride under a tree where there was 
a crow or a hawk without disturbing the bird; so, 
too, the great horned owl has its weak point, it may 
be fascinated by a dog. 
The photographing of the Great Horned Owl under 
the following conditions is not difficult: wait until 
the owl seizes the fowl and stops to rest on the return 
to the woods, then let a dog be led to within twenty 
or thirty feet of the owl, and the bird will be all atten- 
tion for the dog, taking apparently no notice of the 
person leading it. The behavior of the owl at such 
