Birds of Indiana. 801 



1878. Mr. Nelson had noted two taken near Chicago, 'riic year J8H;5 

 is notable for a sudden increase in the number observed noiili of I lie 

 Ohio River. In October of that year ten Barn Owls were killed near 

 ('incinnati, several of which were found occupying the tower of tlic 

 town hall at Glendale, 0. On October 18th, Mr. (-has. Din-y visited 

 the town hall at (rlendale. Four Barn Owls Hew oiil. I give some 

 exti-acts frojn Mr. Dury's account. The floor and ledgtis were covered 

 with the cast-up pellets of the birds. 



"With Owls the indigestible matter is roniicd inio halls in llio 

 stomach, and afterwards cast U[). 'Plicsc ai'c called pellets. 'They 

 covered the floor several inches (Iccp in |»laccs. 1 examined ma.ny ol' 

 tliciii. and foiiiid Hicin made up ciitiiH'ly ol' the hair and hones of 



Foot, of liiiiii Owl. .Nlivtiiriil size. 



the smaller jodents, mostly mice, 'riiere must have been the debris 

 of several thousand mice and rats. But the strangest ])art of the 

 curious hahitation was the flock of domestic pigeons that wcmt living, 

 seemingly, on intimate terms with the Owls, and judging from the 

 old pigeon nests, I presume the pigeons had actually nested and reared 

 young there" (.lonrn. Cin. Soc. N. II., Dec, 1883, p|). 237, 238.) Soon 

 afterwards two Barn Owls were taken at Monroe, Ohio. 



These birds also spread into Indiana. October 25, 1883, the only 

 one ever reported in the Whitewater Valley was killed near Brook- 

 ville. There is one in the collection at the Slate Miisenm that was 

 taken at Franklin, December, 3 883. They hred near I'^iankfort, 

 Clinton County, in the summer of 1889. In Vigo County young were 

 taken about July 18, 1890. In the north part of Tippecanoe County, 

 two young were taken from the nest in a hole in a large elm, about 

 June 15, 1890. The winter of 1891-92, Mr. Fletcher M. Noe received 

 three of those owls taken in this State. The following additional 

 records are at hand: January 19, 1893, one M'as found dead in an old 

 51 — Geol. 



