12 



THE OOLOGIST 



stood at zero, but it was clear and 

 turned into a fine day. In the woods 

 •we found a heavy deep snow, but it 

 was crusted hard and held up so that 

 walking was fine. 



We visited the basin in the big tim- 

 ber where the Goshawks nested and 

 looked over the old nests but without 

 results, although there is a pair of 

 Bubos in that vicinity. We did not 

 see or hear the Gashawk either. 



We then went to another place 

 where I knew a pair of Owls was 

 located and looked after the old hawk 

 and crow nests. We found the old 

 lady at home in a nest that has been 

 used for several seasons, by a pair 

 of Red Shouldered Hawks. When I 

 bumped the tree she flopped off and 

 quickly dissappeared into a lot of large 

 pines. 



The nest was sixty-five feet from 

 the ground in a chestnut and was not 

 a difficult one to reach. After a lot 

 of fussing we got a good photo of 

 the outfit and secured a nice fresh set 

 of two eggs. 



I had several more pairs in view, 

 but the deep snow and stormy 

 weather prevented looking them up. 



The Horned Owl is a resident the 

 year round. They seem to stay in the 

 same vicinity year after year and each 

 pair ranges over a considerable terri- 

 tory. 



They seem to hold their own in 

 numbers here as they have good shelt- 

 er in the hemlocks and are wary and 

 difficult to get close enough to shoot; 

 in fact, I don't believe we have a 

 bird here that is as difficult to secure 

 as Mr. Bubo. 



Crows often mob them and at such 

 times they can sometimes be ap- 

 proached. 



They are great destroyers of game, 

 especially rabbits, and during the long 

 winter they kill a great many. They 

 must tackle skunks very often as most 



of them that I have handled smelled 

 very skunky and several nests that 

 I have climbed smelled very rich. 

 They are great fellows to raid chicken 

 coops and roosts and once started 

 they keep it up until shot or trapped. 



They nest in both hollow trees ^and 

 stubs and old hawks' nests and don't 

 seem to have any particular choice. 

 They don't use the same nest each 

 season here, but have a different one 

 each time. 



The first week in March is the time 

 for fresh eggs here, regardless of the 

 weather, and the young hatch out 

 about the 20th to 25th of March. The 

 old ones are good providers and al- 

 ways have a supply of food ready for 

 the little fellows when hatched. 



Last season I climbed to a nest in 

 which the young had just hatched and 

 found a grouse and the best part of 

 a rabbit in the nest. 



At a nest that I climbed to several 

 years ago I found young just hatched 

 and in the nest was a large rat, minus 

 its head, also the hind quarters of a 

 rabbit. 



R. B. Simpson, Warren, Pa. 



Long-Eared Owls. 



I inclose a photo of young Long- 

 eared Owls. These queer looking 

 owlets were photographed on June 

 30th, but rather late in the season, 

 for young long-eared's of this size. I 

 think they are from the third set of 

 eggs from the same pair of birds In 

 one season, which I have every rea- 

 son to believe. 



On April 22nd, I was tramping 

 around in a bunch of woods and found 

 a nest in a maple, twenty-one feet up, 

 in an old crow's nest, and it contained 

 four fresh eggs, and undoubtedly an 

 uncompleted set. I took them. Some 

 days later, which was on May 1st, I 

 happened to be in this same woods, 

 and located a nest in a small pine 



