'"iVjo"'] PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 539 



123. Asio wilsonianus. American Long-eared Owl. 



Tolerably common summer resident. Winnipeg: Summer resident ; 

 tolerably common; arrives Ai)ril 1, departs November 1 (diue). Sol- 

 itary; hunts at night; lied River region (D. Gunn). Has been seen 

 in the wooded country east of Wiuiiipeg, during February (Hunter). 

 "Screech Owl," Ossowa (Waguer). Portage la Prairie: Rare summer 

 resident in this locality; near Winnipeg only five shot in six years 

 (Nash). C'arberry: Summer resident; not rare; breeding (Thompson). 

 Two specimens procured at Fort Pelly, September 16, 1881, and one at 

 Birtle, October, 1881 (Macoun). 



On July 10, 1884, found a nest of the Long-eared Owl in the middle 

 of a dense bush of low red willows. It was not more than 9 feet from 

 the ground and yet very difiQcult of access, for the billow branches 

 were too slender to bear my weight, and as the> chanced also to be 

 of dead wood they could not be bent down without endangering the 

 nest. Therefore, to make close observations, I lifted a small boy on 

 my shoulders, so that he was able to reach and hand me the contents 

 of the nest. 



TLe nest itself was composed entirely of sticks and was much like 

 that of a hawk. It was not the old nest of a crow, or of any other bird 

 that commonly builds with sticks, so that I am satisfied that it was the 

 owl's own work. At this time it contained four young ones, and these 

 were evidently of four difierent ages, one being half-grown and nearly 

 fledged ; another seemed to be only two or three days old, for it was yet a 

 tiny ball of white down that the elder one might easily have swallowed. 

 The others were in difierent stages between these. Each of the nest- 

 lings as it was handled snapped its bill with vigor proportioned to its 

 size. The mother bird had appeared soon after we arrived, and 

 although it was a bright summer day, she did not seem to be at all incon- 

 venienced by the light, but flew around us with all the assurance of a 

 bird that is usually diurnal. 



Wlien we approached the nest she became much excited and either 

 flew round and round us or alighted close ov^er our heads, and snapped 

 her bill loudly and often, while from time to time she uttered a loud 

 long cry like '■'■ on-il-il-il-ilil-'d-loo.'''' 



Having completed my examination I left her in peace, intending to 

 return again in a few days to note the growth of the birds; but some 

 one came before me, and when next I went the nest was empty. 



On the night of August 25 I heard a strange shrieking, between the 

 cry of a fox and a cat. It seemed to come from the barn where my 

 Horned Owls were confined. I took my gun and went out. After wait- 

 ing and watching for some minutes I made out the form of a large 

 broad-winged bird, flying around the building and uttering the wild 

 sound I had noted, in response to the querulous notes of the owls 

 within. When I mimicked its note it flew over me, and was at once 



