420 



BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



"Its flight is rapid and graceful, and more like that of an eagle 

 than one of this family. It sails easily and in large circles. It is 

 nocturnai in its habits, and is very rarely seen abroad in the day, 

 and then only in cloudy weather or late in the afternoon. When 

 detected in its hiding-place by the Jay, Crow, or Kingbird, and 

 driven forth by their annoyances, it labors under great disadvan- 

 tages, and flies at random in a hesitating flight, until twiUght 

 enables it to retaliate upon its tormentors. The hooting and noc- 

 turnal cries of the Great Horned Owl are a remarkable feature in 

 its habits. These are chiefly during its breeding season, especially 

 the peculiar loud and vociferous cries known as its hooting. At 

 times it will utter a single shriek, sounding like the yell of some 

 unearthly being, while again it barks incessantly like a dog, and 

 the resemblance is so natural as to provoke a rejoinder from its 

 canine prototype. Occasionally it utters sounds resembhng the half- 

 choking cries of a person nearly strangled, and, attracted by the 

 watchfire of a camp, flies over it, shrieking a cry resembling waugh- 

 h-o-o. It is not surprising that with all these combinations and 

 variations of unearthly cries, these birds should have been held in 

 awe by the aborigines, their cries being sufficiently fearful to startle 

 even the least timid. 



"The mating of this bird appears to have httie or no reference 

 to the season. A pair has been known to select a site for their 

 nest, and begin to construct a new one, or seize upon that of a 

 Eed-tailed Hawk, and repair it, in September or October, keeping 

 in its vicinity through the winter, and making their presence known 

 by their continued hooting. Mr. Jillson found a female sitting on 

 two eggs in February, in Hudson, Mass. ; and Mr. William Street, 

 of Easthampton, in the spring of 1869, found one of their nests on 

 the 3d of March, the eggs in which had been incubated at least a 

 week. If one nest is broken up, the pair immediately seek another 

 and make a renewed attempt to raise a brood. They rarely go 

 more than a mile from their usual abode, and then only for food. 

 Mr. Street's observations have led liim to conclude that they mate 

 about February 20, and deposit their eggs from the 25th to the 

 28th. They cease to hoot in the vicinity of their nest from the 

 time of their mating until their young have left them in June. 

 On the 19th of March, 1872, Mr. Street found two of their eggs 

 containing young nearly ready to hatch." 



