247 



thirteen nests of this bird that have come under my 

 personal notice, twelve containefl two eggs, or young, 

 and only one contained three eggs. All the nests re- 

 ferred to at)ove were placed in branches of trees and 

 were generally tlio-se of hawks or crows, renovated or 

 enlarged. Occasionally a hollow tree is nsed for the 

 purpose. Upon one occasion I replaced the owl's eggs 

 taken from a nest with those of the common hen, and 

 upon visiting them at the expiration of three weeks, 

 found that both the latter had been hatched and had 

 fallen from the nest, about twenty feet f^om the 

 ground, and that the owls had deserted the locality. 

 The Great PLorned Owls are liberal providers for their 

 young. I have fiequently found full grown rabbits 

 lying in the nest beside the young, and scarcely a nest 

 visited did no-t have a strong odor of skunk, while 

 bones and feathers were scattered around attesting to 

 the predacious habits of the proprietors." 



ITS FLIGHT AND WIERD NOTES. 



"The flight of the Great Horned Owl is elevated 

 rapid and graceful. It sails with apparent ease and in 

 large circles, in the manner of an (3agle; rises and de- 

 scends without the least difficulty by merely inclining 

 its wings or its tail as it passes through the air. Now 

 and then it glides silently close over the earth with in- 

 comparable velocity, and droi)s, as if shot dead, on the 

 prey beneath. At other times, it suddenly alights on 

 the top of a fence stake or a dead stump, shakes its 

 feathers, arranges them, and utters a shriek so horrid 

 that the woods around echo to its dismal sound. Now, 

 it seems as if you heard the barking of a* cur dog; 

 again the notes are so rough and mingled togetlici- 

 that they might be mistaken for the last gurglings 

 ■of a murdered y)ei-son striving in vain to call for as 



