184 Townsend, Ipswich Bird Notes. [April 



sidered a good mouser and the farmer's friend. Fisher, in his ' Hawks and 

 Owls of the United States,' 1893, p. 140, says, " The Long-eared Owl is 

 one of our most beneficial species, destroying vast numbers of injurious 

 rodents and seldom touching insectivorous birds." The following record, 

 which is very exceptional, puts him in another category. 



On June 3, 1917, I -visited a nest of this species, of which I had been 

 kindly informed by Mr. C. E. Clark, in a pitch pine grove in the Ipswich 

 dunes. Four days before Mr. Clark had found three young in the nest. 

 This, probably an old Crow's nest, was in a pitch pine about twenty feet 

 from the ground. Only one young was to be found and it was in the tree ten 

 feet from the nest. It was in white down with a dark face and with ear 

 tufts of white down. An adult bird flew about among and over the trees, 

 alighting from time to time near the rest. Once it was mobbed by three 

 Crows as it flew above the trees, but easily eluded them. This was in the 

 middle of a sunny day. It constantly uttered low notes which suggested 

 at times the barking of a small puppy, at times the notes ud-hunk. 



There were numerous pellets around the foot of the tree and the whole 

 upper part of the nest was heavily thatched with feathers and a few bones. 

 I sent all the pellets I could find to the Biological Survey in Washington, 

 and a month later some more pellets and the upper layers of the nest. The 

 first report is as follows: 



Contents of about 10 pellets: Red-winged Blackbird 1, Savannah Sparrow 

 1, Vesper Sparrow 1, Chipping Sparrow 1, Song Sparrow 1, Chewink 1, 

 Black and White Warbler 1, Yellow Warbler 1, Pine Warbler 1, Maryland 

 Yellowthroat 1, Thrushes sp. 2, other passerine birds (indeterminate) 2, 

 Short-tailed Shrew 1, Jumping Mouse 10, Meadow Mouse 7. 



The second set of pellets brought the following report: 



Red-winged Blackbird 1, Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1, Song Sparrow 1, Yel- 

 low Warbler 1, Warblers sp. 2, Brown Thrasher 1, other passerine birds 2, 

 Short-tailed Shrew 1, White-footed Mouse 1, Jumping Mouse 1, Meadow 

 Mouse, 4. 



It will be seen that this pair of owls had eaten some thirteen different 

 species of birds and twenty-three individuals; also four species of mammals 

 and twenty-five individuals. 



Mr. E. W. Nelson in a letter of June 21, 1917, commenting on these 

 findings says: " This is an interesting lot of pellets, as it is very unusual 

 to find the long-eared owl feeding upon birds to such an extent. In a 

 large number of pellets examined from winter roosts of these birds, we have 

 found the bird remains making up considerably less than 10 per cent of 

 the total animal contents. The owls in question must have had excep- 

 tional opportunities to secure birds, and the breeding season may also have 

 had some effect in producing this habit." The Ipswich dunes are, as 1 have 

 always maintained, particularly good regions for birds, and this owl seems 

 to have had the instincts of a collector. 



Ceryle alcyon. Kingfisher. — This bird is believed to be such an 

 exclusive fish eater that any deviation from this diet is worth recording. 



