306 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 
Recorded by Bishop from many places in Yukon and Alaska, 
and reported by Osgood to be common in the parts of Alaska tra- 
versed by him in 1902. 
BREEDING NOTES.—September 18th, 1884; Portage la Prairie: 
Mr. C. W. Nash gives me a very interesting note on a pair of horned 
owls that had nested in the woods here, and from the indications 
observed there seems little doubt that they subsist chiefly on fish, 
which were abundant in a small creek running from a lake through 
these woods to the Assiniboine river. On examining the gizzards 
of two of the young of this pair which Mr. Nash shot, he found them 
full of fish. At one place there were, unquestionably, evidences of 
an owl having seized a large fish with one foot and held on to the 
bank with the other. The creek being very small, and surrounded 
with large bare trees, is a favourite run between the river and the 
lake for large fish at night, so that all the circumstances are very 
favourable for the prosecution of the piscatorial pursuits of the owls. 
On the 8th May, 1884, I found a pair of these birds in possession of 
an old nest in the Big Swamp on the Assiniboine river, south of 
Big Plain. This nest was about 30 feet from the ground, in the 
crotch of a poplar tree, which was as yet without leaves. The nest 
was formed of sticks and twigs and was indistinguishable from that 
of a red-tailed buzzard. Once or twice I tried to shoot the old bird on 
the nest, but she was too wary, and evidently had all her wits about 
her even in the day time. (E. T. Seton.) 
As early as 20th March, 1892, at Indian Head, Sask., a pair of 
these birds was nesting. On May 24th I visited the nest and took 
the two young birds home with me. They soon became quite tame 
and would allow me to stroke them, and although they often pecked 
my hands they never were able to draw blood. They seem to have 
little power with their beak. By July 7th they were as large as the 
old ones. It depends very much on their food how often they eject 
pellets. If fed on chopped gophers, skins and all, they would eject 
about five times a week, if on the bodies of birds that had been 
skinned, about three times a week. On June 3rd found a nest with 
two very young ones. Their eyes were not open yet, and they 
seemed only about five days old. On the 7th one opened its eyes 
and on the 1oth the other one. They were quite white when very 
young and altogether without ear tufts. Their eyes are very smail 
