Sept., 1883.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



69 



moss, ( r/snea,) two or three Great-liorned 

 Owl's feathers and several of her own. 

 The nest measures 4^ inches in breadth by 

 3 inches in depth ; the cavity 2^ inches in 

 breadth by 1^ inches in depth. The eggs 

 have a dull white groimd with a faint tinge 

 of blue, marked with small spots and lines 

 of brown and black, which tend to form a 

 circle around the larger end. There are 

 also numerous shell markings of a dull 

 lilac color. The eggs measure as follows : 

 .81X.56, .82X.56, 81x55. I searched 

 carefully for other nests, but was unable to 

 find any, although I saw several of the 

 birds. About half a mile from this spot I 

 saw five or six Wliite-winged Crossbills. 

 (Z/Oxia leucoptera,) all adult males. I se- 

 sured one of them, and could have shot 

 more as they were very tame, but did not 

 as I thought the females and their nests 

 might not be far away ; but careful search 

 failed to reveal either. 



During the month of May, Red Cross- 

 bills could be seen daily among the pines. 

 A flock of eighteen or twenty came every 

 day to drink oiat of a stump in which some 

 water had collected ; here I set a fine 

 wire snare and caught a male and a female, 

 which I placed in a large breeding cage. 

 In a day or two they became quite gentle, 

 feeding readily upon any kind of seed. 

 During the day they were quite contented 

 but about sunset they would begin to call 

 to each other and try to get out ; tliey 

 wo^^ld continue to do this until dark. The 

 female would then nestle down into a nest 

 which had been placed in the cage for a 

 canaiy, and the male would station him- 

 self on the edge of the nest and settle 

 down for the night, At daybreak they 

 would begin their calling again, and this 

 would continue for some time. 



On the 14th of May I saw a flock of ten 

 or twelve. Most of them appeared to be 

 young birds. All the others I have seen 

 since March have been adults. By the 1st 

 of June they had all disappeared. — A. H. 

 Helme^ Millers Place, Tj. I. 



Barred Owl. 



The Barred Owl is the most common with 

 me with the exception of the Screech Owl. 

 As a winter resident it becomes quite bold 

 and will often approach the house in search 

 of food. This leads me to mention the 

 capture of my confined bird under the 

 following peculiar circumstances: In vi\ 

 museum I have an open coal grate. One 

 morning while building the fire I was sur- 

 prised by a Barred Owl tumbling down 

 the chimney with considerable fuss and 

 lack of dignity. Eecovering himself he 

 perched on a chair as calmly as though in 

 his native wilds. Of course his capture 

 speedily followed and for two years he has 

 remained in confinement, as stoical as an 

 Athens judge. Nothing moves him except 

 the food, which he seizes with avidity, and 

 swallows with equal haste. Although rath- 

 er ludicrous to watch as he sits wrapped 

 ill the consciousness of his own moral dig- 

 nity, yet he is less interesting to my mind 

 than any of my other feathered friends. 

 This being my opinion I am not quite as 

 lenient with him as with the Long-eared 

 Owl, and woe to the nest which comes in 

 my circuit of collecting. 



My first Barred Owl's nest well do I re- 

 metnber. It was the first nest of any 

 Owl's or Hawk's I had ever found, and it 

 being in the beginning of my oological as- 

 pirations, the next question to be solved 

 was how to get it, for it was most provok- 

 ingly placed in an old Fisk Hawk's nest at 

 the top of an old dead tree, smooth for 

 forty feet without a limb. Climbing irons 

 I had never heard of. To " shin " it was 

 out of the question. My only resonrce 

 was to let them hatch, which I did. Three 

 pair now breed in this vicinity. One nest 

 is in the hollow of an old pine stub fifteen 

 feet or so from the ground. Number two 

 is in a heavy wood, where they have the 

 choice of several old Hawk's nests, seem- 

 ing not to remain only for one year in the 

 same nest. Number three was placed last 

 year in an old Crow's nest, at the top of a 



