68 NORTH AMERICAN JilRDS". 



or late in tlio afternoon. AVlion dotootod in its hiding-plaoo l\v tiio Jay, 

 Crow, or King-lurd, and driven forth hy their annoyances, it lalxirs nndcr 

 yreat disadvantaws, and ilics at random in a liesitatinu lliiiht, nntil twilight 

 enables it to retaliate npon its tormentors. The hooting' and noctnriial cries 

 of the Oreat Horned Owl are a remarkahlo feature in its haltits. These are 

 chielly during its breeding-.season, espeeially tiie peculiar haul and vociferous 

 cries known as its liootini;'. At times it will utter a si a' shriek, s(jun(ling 

 like the yell of some unearthly being, while again it barks incessantly like 

 a dog, and the resemlilance is so natural as to provoke a n^joinder from its 

 canine prototyi)c. Occasionally it utters sounds resembling the hidf-cliok- 

 ing cries of a person nearly strangled, and, attracted by the watchlire of a 

 camp, lly over it, shrieking a cry resembling uMiujli-hnn. It is not suri)rising 

 that with all these combinations and variations of unearthly cries these birds 

 should have been held in awe by the aborigines, their cries being sullicicntly 

 fearful to startle even the least timid. 



It is one of the most destructive of the depredators upon the jioultr}'- 

 yard, far surpassing in this res])ect any of our Hawks. All its mischief 

 is done at night, when it is almost impossible to detect and punish it. 

 Whole plantations are often thus stripped in a single season. 



The mating of this bird appears to have little or no reference to the sea- 

 son. A pair has been known to select a site for their nest, and begin to con- 

 struct a new one, or seize upon that of a Ited-tailed Hawk, and repair it, in 

 September or October, keeping in its vicinity through the winter, and mak- 

 ing their presence known by their continued hooting. Mr. Jillson found a 

 female sitting on two eggs in February, in Hudson, Mass. ; and Mr. AVilliam 

 Street, of Easthampton, in the spring of 18Gt), found one of their nests on 

 the 3d of March, the eggs in jjhicli had been incubated at least a W(!ek. If 

 one nest is broken \\\), the pair immeiliately seek another, and make a 

 renewed attempt to raise a l)rood. They rarely go more than a mile from 

 their usual abode, and then only for food. Mr. Sti'cet's observations have 

 led him to conclude that they mate about February 2(J, and dejiosit their 

 eggs from the 2oth to the 28th. They cease to hoot in the vicinity of their 

 nest from the time of their mating until their young have left them in 

 June. On the I'Jth of ]\Iarch, 1872, ]\Ir. Street found two of tlieir eggs 

 containing young nearly ready to hatch. 



Mr. Street's ob,servations .satistied him that the period of incubation of 

 this Owl is about three weeks. "When they have young and are hard 

 ljres.sed for food, they hunt by day as well as by night, and at this time 

 they hoot a good deal. The young are ready to leave their nest about six 

 weeks after hatching. At this time their feathers are nearly all grown, ex- 

 cept their head-feathers, which have hardly started. In the spring of 1872 

 Mr. Street found a young bird that had fallen from its nest. Though very 

 small it was untamable, and not to be softened by any attentions. Its 

 savage disposition seemed to increase with age. It readily devoured all 



