76 



or:n^ithologist 



[Yol. 12-I^o. 5 



river at that season of the year is very treach- 

 erous, caused by our spring rains, and there is 

 no telling when j^ou may be surrounded or sub- 

 merged by the rushing stream). But much to 

 our disappointment and chagrin, we had, dur- 

 ing the excitement of getting stalled, forgotten 

 the tent, and so here we were miles from home 

 without anything to shelter us. 



You can imagine our feelings, and the great 

 pleasure of knowing that we we would perhaps 

 be visited by a cold March rain that very night ; 

 and I will here say we were not disappointed, 

 for we did have one and a good one too. 



As darkness came on the deep pine wood 

 echoed and re-echoed with the hoot of the 

 " Boobj-" owl; and I must say it was not the 

 most pleasant sensation in the world to hear 

 the deep base voice of an "old setter" hooting 

 up the swamp and then to be answered by a 

 Screech Owl with its soul-terrori/ing screech, 

 reminding one of the wailing laugh of an es- 

 caped maniac of Goblin days. This was kept 

 up until about eigiit o'clock, when everything 

 settled into a death-like stillness, and then we 

 only wished for one more hoot of an owl to 

 break the monotony, but our wishes were not 

 fulfilled. After a short time we were asleep, 

 only to be awakened about midnight by a rustl- 

 ing in the brandies overhead, and upon looking 

 in that direction what should be our surprise 

 and fright to see an immense owl peering down 

 upon us. He was within three feet of our 

 heads, and at the moment of our looking up, 

 he gave an unearthly hoot, as if saying •' who 

 are you?" My friend at the instant became 

 frightened, grasjjed his revolver and Jumped 

 up, at the same time exclaiming " who in the 



are youV" I would remark that my friend 



is not a profane man, but you will pardon him 

 under the circumstances. Of course the owl on 

 hearing such language, immediately left us to 

 join moi-e agreeable company. 



After laughing ourselves to sleep, we were 

 not again disturbed until about three o'clock, 

 when this time only to be aroused from our 

 slumbers by a drenching rain. One who never 

 ■ has experienced such, does not appreciate it. 

 We sat around a slow lire, however, working 

 our utmost to keep it burning, until the hours 

 of morning began to show their welcome light 

 in the east, and if day was ever greeted with 

 more pleasure by anyone than by us, I would 

 like to see them. 



After eating a cold breakfast we concluded to 

 take a look for Bubo's nests, notwithstanding 

 the trees were as slippery as greased poles. 

 But this did not baffle us, so we started our 



search and were not long in being rewarded by 

 finding a nest of the Long-eared Owl {Asio 

 (imcrUumus)^ containing three eggs. Going a 

 short distance further we made a still better 

 find of four eggs of the same species ; but here 

 our luck left us and we made a pretty good 

 tramp of over two hours through mud and 

 drift until we came upon a nest of the Barred 

 Owl {Strix nehnlosa) placed in a tall pine, and 

 after making several attempts at climbing it, 

 we at last su(!ceeded in reaching the nest and 

 were very much pleased to find three eggs 

 awaiting us. They were perfectly fresh and 

 in splendid condition. The eggs were placed in 

 a deserted Crow's nest, which contained only a 

 few leaves and sticks, and they seemed to have 

 been placed there by the owls. The parent 

 birds were shot and identified as being of the 

 typical variet}'. 



We were further rewarded by rinding four 

 nests of this species during the day, two of 

 which were placed in hollow trees. The nests 

 contained two and three eggs respectively, and 

 in no case did I find four. Two of the sets 

 were far advanced in incubation. I take from 

 two sets in my collection the following meas- 

 urements of the eggs : First of two eggs, 2.00 x 

 l.(!3; 1.98x1.6.5, and the other of three eggs, 

 1.95x1.60; 1.95x1.62 and 1.98x1.60. 



The Strr.c iiebnlosn is a very rare liird for 

 ("ooke Gounty, so their nests are not easily ob- 

 tained. 



I see that in a recent number of the Orni- 

 thologist AND OoLOGiST Mr. Singly speaks 

 of the nesting of the Florida Barred Owl (Strix 

 uchulosa allcni) in Lee ('ounty, Texas. This 

 species is much more common in Cooke County 

 than the typical variety, and in five birds out of 

 six taken they prove to be Htrix nchalosa alleni. 

 I have never taken eggs of either species in this 

 county (Cook), but am in hopes of adding sev- 

 eral sets this season, as I have located as many 

 pairs of birds. 



Nesting of the Black-throated Blue 

 V/arbler. 



HV WM. L. KELLS, ONTARIO, CANADA. 



The favorite habitation of the Black-throated 

 Blue Warbler {Dendr<jeca aerulescens) is high, 

 hard-wood-timbered lands, where there is a 

 thick growth of low underbrush, and while 

 the males seek an elevated position among the 

 leafy boughs for the display of their musical 



