FOOD OF THE GREAT HORNED OWL 217 



In May and early June the young leave the nest and may then be 

 found perched in the tops of the trees, from which they may be 

 shaken down and captured. As captives they are interesting but not 

 docile. 



The amount and the variety of food found in and about the nests 

 ~f Great Horned Owls well indicate their ability as hunters, and 

 their omnivorous propensities. 



On April 21, 1906, Professor Keyes found in a nest containing 

 two young Horned Owls, half a Coot and half a mature Rabbit, to- 

 gether with four young Rabbits. On April 26, the same nest held 

 the hinder parts of an adult Rabbit, a striped Gopher and a headless 

 Bobwhite, also some Flicker feathers. On the 28th a Rabbit was 

 found in the nest with the young birds, and at a later date a Rabbit 

 and a Brown Rat were noted. On March 16, 1907, the nest con- 

 tained besides the three young Owls, the remains of four adult Cot- 

 ton-tail Rabbits, two Bobwhites and a Field Mouse. Domestic Pigeons 

 and a King Rail were also listed as occurring among the food rem- 

 nants. 



In 1909 a farmer near Norway brought in a Great Horned Owl 

 that had been captured in a steel trap set on a post near his chicken 

 yard. Mr. C. D. Kirkpatrick discovered a nest of these birds April 

 12, 1911, about a mile and a quarter north of the Coe College Campus 

 and within the city limits of Cedar Rapids. This contained, besides 

 the two well feathered young about ready to leave the nest, the re- 

 mains of a Flicker, a Striped Gopher, a good sized Carp, and the foot 

 of a Cotton-tail Rabbit, while beneath the nest were found the head- 

 less remains of a Grebe, another Carp, the hindquarters of a Rabbit, 

 and some feathers of a Robin as well as a mass of "owl pellets." The 

 catching of such fish as the Carp is to be explained in this case, I be- 

 lieve, by the fact that the nest was located not far from a slough in 

 the shallow waters of which Carp feed in numbers, often, as I have 

 observed, with a considerable part of their backs exposed. These 

 fish might easily be secured by an owl at such times without even 

 wetting its feet. 







Many writers speak of the noticeable odor of the Skunk about the 

 nests and on the plumage of the Great Horned Owls. I believe that 

 both the large Skunks and the spotted Skunks or Civets as they are 

 commonly called, enter into the dietary list of these vigorous birds. 

 One which was shot near Traer in 1902, had evidently not a great 

 while before met with a most active member of the mephitic group. 



