Oct. 1886.] 
AND OOLOGIST. 
147 


The latitude being too far north for that season of 
the year in our vigorous climate. 
52. Junco hyemalis, (Snow Bird). A common 
resident in summer, in the mountains north of 
Dead River as well as in the Bigelow chain. In 
the vicinity of the camp at Tim Pond we found 
several nests, and on Mt. Bigelow they were the 
commonest birds. The nests were in every in- 
stance placed on the ground, and in no case did 
they contain more than four eggs as a comple- 
ment. The eggs present in coloration all the 
variations of the family, with a ground color from 
white to almost a green, or sometimes totally ob- 
scured, and blotched with various shades of brown, 
often congregating about the larger end, leaving 
the remainder of the egg almost immaculate, and 
again profusely and entirely covered with blotches, 
they present a pleasing variation. 
(To be Continued.) 

Notes on Some Birds of the Great 
Smoky Mountains. 

BY ARTHUR LEMOYNE, M. D. 
(Continued from page 132.) 


MEGASCOPS ASIO, 
Screech Owl. 
This little Owl was the most common of any in 
my youthful days, but its present status is not 
very definite. In autumn they are frequently 
met with, and often are surprised in outbuildings, 
to which they have retreated in the day time, and 
coon-hunting parties report finding them in hol- 
low trees, in fact, for many of my specimens I am 
indebted to the negro hunters. No one county 
appears to be favored with the presence of this 
species more than another, and faunal lines have 
no effect in defining their habitat. To concisely 
state the occurreuce of this bird, it may be con- 
sidered as not common, and a few breed. I have 
myself found several nests, all of which were in 
the old trees by the streams or in orchards. The 
familiar nest needs no description, and the four 
white eggs it usually contains, although highly 
prized by the collector, are too well known to re- 
quire further statements. 
Although the country would seem to the theorist 
to be suitable for an abundance of our Raptores 
yet they were the least represented of any family 
of birds and consequently their biography is un- 
satisfactory to a large degree. 
SYRNIUM NEBULOSUM. 
Barred Owl. 
This species is quite common in October, when 
their hootings may occasionally be heard. The 
propensity of this Owl to resort to the same nest 
year after year is well known, and the collector 
who discovers such a place has an annual income. 
Several years ago a pair took their abode in an 
old hollow stump some twelve feet high, in an old 
field about a mile from the base of Bald Mountain, 
and the past spring I was highly pleased to again 
take a set of three eggs on March 27th, after an 
absence of three years. The hollow was about 
two feet in depth and open at the top, conse- 
quently a rain would render it very uncomfort- 
able, except to a certain denomination, for the 
eggs were ‘immersed’ several times. 
At present the above is the only breeding in- 
stance I can record in this region, but as transient 
visitors the Barred Owl may be met with at all 
altitudes. 
BUBO VIRGINIANUS. 
Great Horned Owl. 
With no pretense to infallibility I may over- 
look some prominent species, but I cannot under- 
stand why this Ow] has not been listed as a resi- 
dent of this country. Rapacious birds like the 
Great Horned Owl are likely to make their 
presence known, which renders the omission the 
more prominent. I consider this Owl the most 
common of the Rapacia excepting the Turkey 
Buzzard. Several nests have been found, princi- 
pally in the evergreen growth of the mountains, 
where they were placed at dizzy heights, making 
it such a risk to ascend that in many cases I 
simply said “sour grapes” and passed on. For- 
tune, however, favored me with several easy of 
ascent, and I have secured many pairs of eggs 
during the past score of years. All of the nests 
were either old Hawks’, or built by the birds, 
none were in hollows or cavities. Like the other 
Owls, they are the most numerous or conspicuous 
in the fall and winter. I also observed an indi- 
vidual of this species near Church river in 
Virginia. 
CATHARTES AURA. 
Turkey Buzzard. 
This bird is seen everywhere in numbers which 
under certain conditions will increase until their 
‘“numerousness” is beyond comprehension if not 
numbers. This species is supposed to occur any- 
where south of Mason’s and Dixon’s line, but in 
this locality its nesting is a matter of conjecture 
save to the birds themselves. I have scaled al- 
most inaccessable cliffs, crawled carefully and 
tremblingly along narrow shelving rocks and 
hung by a rope over yawning chasms, and for my 
reward I have a cracked egg of the Turkey Buz- 
zard. In the single instance where fortune 
favored me with a squab and addled egg, I had 
my first and last peep into the home circle of these 
Buzzards, as I gazed at the rotten log by side of 
