252 Twelve Months With 



length, with a wing spread of three feet. He has 

 large and conspicuous ear tufts, from which he 

 derives his name. Like many of the owls, his 

 plumage is variable. It is mottled black, and 

 various shades of brown, buff and tawny. He has 

 a white band around his throat, like a collar, and 

 usually a white stripe down the breast. He has 

 the yellow eyes common to his race. 



Some years ago, in Northern Indiana, during 

 the last week of February, I discovered the nest 

 of a great horned owl in an abandoned red-tailed 

 hawk's nest, some ninety feet from the ground. 

 I had observed the hawks at this nest during the 

 previous spring, and as I was walking through 

 the woods on a dull February day, the nest loomed 

 large before me in the naked trees, and I looked 

 at it with my glass, to see if there were any signs 

 of the hawks returning and repairing the old nest. 

 I immediately noticed something which very much 

 resembled the ear tufts of a large owl protruding 

 over the bulky nest. I approached the tree and 

 hammered on the trunk, but there was no move- 

 ment about the nest. Looking around under the 

 nest, among the dead leaves, I found fragments 

 of aegagropila, or balls of fine hair and bones. 



The regurgitation of the hair and bones of mice, 

 rabbits and other animals eaten by owls often 

 furnishes a helpful clew to one searching for 

 their nests. Usually quantities of this material 

 may be found on the ground about any tree 

 inhabited by owls, and as the birds are very retir- 



