282 Reed, Notes on the American Barn Owl. loct 



were found, whose death no doubt resulted from starvation caused 

 by the parent birds being shot. I gathered up sixty-eight skulls 

 of mice, which Mr. S. N. Rhoads has identified as already noted. 

 On August 4, 1893, a nest of these Owls was discovered in one of 

 the chutes of the Girard Point Elevators, at the mouth of the 

 Schuylkill River, by one of the employees, who killed the female 

 and presented it to Dr. E. S. Harrington, of Philadelphia, who 

 had it mounted by Mr. Voelker. This nest contained eggs. I 

 was informed by one of the employees that they experienced great 

 difficulty in preventing the Owls from nesting in the lofts of the 

 elevators, and on different occasions nests with young had been 

 found there. There is no doubt that the rats and mice which 

 infest these elevators are their chie£ attraction, and I see no reason 

 why they would not prove beneficial tenants to the owners. The 

 glass windows in the lanterns were mysteriously broken from time 

 to time, and it was finally attributed to the Owls. This was prob- 

 ably an accident on their part through a desire to reach their 

 quarry from the outside. 



Barn Owls also roost and nest among the old hoUow-trunked 

 swamp willows growing in the meadows along the Schuylkill River 

 near its mouth. 



One of the most peculiar nesting-places which I have met with 

 Vv-as in a portable grain elevator, constructed entirely of iron. 

 Within the hood at the top was a wheel six feet in diameter 

 with a convex felloe two feet wide ; in the felloe between the 

 spokes they laid their eggs, among the accumulated pellets, etc. 

 They effected an entrance into the hood through a hole above the 

 axle of the wheel. This elevator has been out of service since 

 the new buildings at Girard Point were built, and has been regu- 

 larly used by the Owls since that time. On April 24, 1895, Mr. 

 Mark L. C. Wilde removed two fresh eggs from this nest, and 

 found it occupied by both birds. On April 30, three additional 

 eggs were secured. 



Another nesting place, which is occupied at the present time, 

 is in a pin-oak tree situated in the northwestern corner of Tinicum 

 Island, along Bow Creek. On September 28, 1895, accompanied 

 by Mr. Wilde, I visited this nest. The cavity is twenty feet 

 above the ground and is an irregular oval in shape, its length 



