VoL l9il VI11 ] Sherman, Nest Life of the Screech Owl. 157 



some time on the 30th of March; the third one was deposited on 

 April 1, but two days intervening between the laying of the second 

 and third eggs, while three or more days were the period between 

 the other layings. The fourth egg was in the nest at half past four 

 o'clock in the afternoon of April 4, but was not there at eight o'clock 

 on the previous evening. This shows that it took from eight to 

 nine days to complete the clutch of four eggs. Whether the Owl 

 laid in the night, or in the morning as other birds do, was not ascer- 

 tained. 



The blind, intended as a shelter while watching migrating birds, 

 was built upon posts on a tiny plot of nearly solid earth in a small 

 quagmire. In an air line it stands three hundred feet from the 

 house, and nearly that distance back from the street. When the 

 young Owls were almost ready to leave the nest they were freely 

 exhibited to the neighbors, but previous to that time the existence 

 of the nest was revealed to only a half dozen friends, who proved 

 that six women could keep a secret. In its outside dimensions 

 the blind is but forty-five inches square, hence when four of us 

 entered it, the audience in the ceremony of viewing the Owls, 

 like that of the Greek Orthodox Church, remained standing. 



Such were the quarters and surroundings in which the study of 

 the nest was conducted. It was generally visited several times 

 during the day and at least once every evening; the time for the 

 evening visits was usually an hour or two after dusk. Besides 

 them there were two night watches that extended through the 

 greater part of the night, one to half past two, and the other to 

 three o'clock in the morning; and still another, begun after mid- 

 night, lasted over an hour. Once a lamp was burned for a few hours, 

 during the rest of the long watches the time was spent in darkness. 

 When an examination of the nest was desired it was illumined by a 

 flash-light lantern. All pictures of these night watches must from 

 necessity be silhouettes, easily drawn by the imagination of any- 

 one. The only really exciting time was the evening of April 5, 

 when a thunderstorm was raging ; the rain beat hard upon the roof 

 and sides of the blind, and the wind blew great gusts, which momen- 

 tarily seemed to threaten the overthrow of my frail shelter. If 

 there should be a fifth egg it was imperative that the fourth one 

 should be marked that night, so for more than an hour the going 

 out of the female was tremulously awaited. 



