NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 191 



height of four or five feet, while others are simply a few sticks ar- 

 ranged in a circle, and the eggs laid on the bare sand. On Shelter 

 Island they build on the chimneys of houses, and a pair has a nest on 

 the cross-bar of a telegraph pole. Another pair has a nest on a large 

 rock in Gardiner's Bay, near Gardiner's Island. They are made 

 chiefly of coarse sticks and sea weed and anything that is handy, such 

 as pieces of dry cow dung, bones, old shoes, straw, etc. 



A curious nest of the Fish Hawk was found by Mr. S. C. Shick in 

 May, 1888, on the coast of New Jersey. A set of three eggs was taken, 

 and upon descending the tree, Mr. Shick observed a nest of the Purple 

 Grackle, Quiscalus qtiiscula, securely imbedded in the loose material of 

 the Osprey's nest ; from this he took five eggs. At the bottom of the 

 Osprey's nest was a thick, rotten limb, in which there was a Tree Swal- 

 low's nest containing seven eggs. 



Mr. Worthington, who has collected hundreds of the eggs of this 

 species, and to whom I am indebted for a large series, says the largest 

 set of eggs he has ever taken or seen is four ; the usual number, how- 

 ever, is three, though sets of two are common. They are subject to 

 great variation ; the ground color is of a yellowish or creamy-white, 

 spotted, streaked and blotched with reddish-brown and umber, so 

 thickly at the larger end as to completely obscure the ground, some are 

 marked chiefly at the smaller end ; in a series of two hundred eggs be- 

 fore me, there is a wonderful diversity of coloring ; some are almost 

 entirely unmarked. The shapes and sizes also exhibit great variations ; 

 Four selected specimens measure 2.05x1.65, 2.21x1.76, 2.42x1.76, 

 2.54x1.87. The average size is 2.40x1.75. 



365. Strix pratincola BONAP. [394.] 



American Barn Owl. 



Hab. United States in general, south into Mexico. 



A beautiful ochraceous-yellow or amber-colored owl ; sometimes 

 called the "Monkey-faced Owl." A constant resident of the southern 

 portions of the United States. Mr. Stuart says .that in Florida the 

 Barn Owl breeds most generally in March, usually in hollow trees, 

 sometimes in deserted buildings or in the wrecks of boats left along 

 the coast. I am informed by Mr. Shields that in the region of Los 

 Angeles, California, this Owl nests almost anywhere ; in church towers, 

 hollow trees, holes in banks, in barns, pigeon houses, old crows' nests, 

 and even in holes in the ground. He took a set of five eggs from a 

 nest in a burrow far out upon the plains. The breeding season he 

 states begins about the first of April, and continues until the last of 

 June. Natural cavities of trees are this bird's usual nesting places. 



