THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 68 



often put ill a dead mouse, with a string attached to it. 

 by which I dragged it across the cage : an owl instantly 

 seized it, as if it were alive, and ate it. A living hat ( Ves- 

 pertilio Carolmensis) , on being introduced, was instantly 

 seized, bnt, after being killed, was rejected. The strong 

 musky scent peculiar to these animals may have been the 

 reason for the owl's not eating it: if not, I cannot account 

 for it. 



In eating its prey, the Owl stands on it with both feet, and 

 tears it with its bill : if the piece torn off is large, the head 

 is thrown back, and the repeated contraction of the muscles 

 of the throat forces it down. In holding a mouse or other 

 small object, all the talons of one foot are clenched in it, 

 while the other foot is left free. On being approached, this 

 Owl, as indeed do almost all the others, faces the intruder, 

 and follows his motions by turning his head, at the same 

 time snapping his bill. 



In drinking, the bill is immersed, and repeated swallows 

 are taken, after the manner of the pigeons. 



The Great Horned Owl chooses for its breeding-places the 

 most retired and inaccessible places in the deep forests ; and 

 the student might search for weeks for its nest, and not find 

 it unless by accident. It is usually built in a fork of a tall 

 tree, but is sometimes made in a hollow of a tree or in the 

 top of a stub or stump. Audubon found it twice in fissures 

 of rocks. It is constructed of sticks and twigs, and is lined 

 with leaves, grasses, and moss. The eggs are usually three 

 in number ; sometimes four, rarely more : they are of a 

 white color, with a very faint yellowish tint ; their shape is 

 nearly spherical, and they average in size 2.25 inches by 

 2 inches. 



A nest that I found a few miles from Marietta, Ohio, 

 about the middle of March, 18(35, was built in a tall, hollow 

 stub of a beech, which was cut down for the purpose of 

 being examined. It was built of twigs and sticks, in num- 

 bers sufficient to fill the cavity : in tlie middle of these were 



