382 REED, (Votes on the American Barn Owl. ae 
were found, whose death no doubt resulted from starvation caused 
by the parent birds being shot. I gathered up sixty-eight skulls 
of mice, which Mr. S. N. Rhoads has identified as already noted. 
On August 4, 1893, a nest of these Owls was discovered in one of 
the chutes of the Girard Point Elevators, at the mouth of the 
Schuylkill River, by one of the employees, who killed the female 
and presented it to Dr. E. S. Harrington, of Philadelphia, who 
had it mounted by Mr. Voelker. This nest contained eggs. I 
was informed by one of the employees that they experienced great 
difficulty in preventing the Owls from nesting in the lofts of the 
elevators, and on different occasions nests with young had been 
found there. There is no doubt that the rats and mice which 
infest these elevators are their chief attraction, and I see no reason 
why they would not prove beneficial tenants to the owners. The 
glass windows in the lanterns were mysteriously broken from time 
to time, and it was finally attributed to the Owls. This was prob- 
ably an accident on their part through a desire to reach their 
quarry from the outside. 
Barn Owls also roost and nest among the old hollow-trunked 
swamp willows growing in the meadows along the Schuylkill River 
Meaanics) MOULE i 
One of the most peculiar nesting-places which I have met with 
was in a portable grain elevator, constructed entirely of iron. 
Within the hood at the top was a wheel six feet in diameter 
with a convex felloe two feet wide; in the felloe between the 
spokes they laid their eggs, among the accumulated pellets, etc. 
They effected an entrance into the hood through a hole above the 
axle of the wheel. This elevator has been out of service since 
the new buildings at Girard Point were built, and has been regu- 
larly used by the Owls since that time. On April 24, 1895, Mr. 
Mark L. C. Wilde removed two fresh eggs from this nest, and 
found it occupied by both birds. On April 30, three additional 
eggs were secured. 
Another nesting place, which is occupied at the present time, 
is in a pin-oak tree situated in the northwestern corner of Tinicum 
Island, along Bow Creek. On September 28, 1895, accompanied 
by Mr. Wilde, I visited this nest. The cavity is twenty feet 
above the ground and is an irregular oval in shape, its length 
