THE OOLOGIST. 



53 



On Feb. 21, '93, I took a set of the 

 Great Horned Owl, from what I think 

 Was an old hawk's nest, although it 

 may have been the nest of the Ameri- 

 can Crow, as it was only 21 feet from 

 the ground in a large spreading oak 

 tree, the complement of eggs was two, 

 almost round, and pure white, 2.26x1.82 

 and 2.30x1.80. I secured the old bird 

 and now she occupies a prominent 

 place among the house flowers, while 

 the little white gems grace my cabinet, 

 as set No. 1. March 5, '93, was a fruit- 

 less bunt, save a specimen I have label- 

 ed "Nyctala acidica." Saw-whet Owl, 

 Female, I examined this bird for eggs, 

 bnt found no signs of any, although, I 

 think they breed here. 



March 14th was a good day for owls, 

 or rather a rough clay on owls aud a 

 good day for me, for on that eventful 

 <lay after a tramp of over 8 miles, we 

 came home with two beautiful specimens 

 of "Megascops a$io" one of the mottled 

 gray variety, and the other a pretty 

 brownish red, these birds were caught 

 by putting a sack over the hole and 

 beating on the side of the tree, we also 

 took a set of six white eggs; nearly 

 round, two of which were badly incu- 

 bated, the others apparently fresh. In 

 this same dark lonesome woods, we 

 shot a Great Horned Owl, but the shot 

 tore him to much for a cabinet speci- 

 men. Next we took a set of Barn 

 Owl's from an old apple tree in an 

 orchard near the house, these eggs are 

 more oval in shape than those of the 

 other species, the average measurement 

 of the six eggs is 1.75x1.30 in this nest 

 -as is characteristic of all the owls was a 

 scanty bed of feathers plucked from the 

 breast of the parent bird, and a few 

 dried sticks and leaves, the few leaves 

 probably put there by "Dame Nature." 



On March 31, I took another set of 

 the Barn or Hoot Owl from a walnut 

 tree close to the road, when I happened 

 to see the old bird fly in, as I was pass- 

 ing in a buggy. Mr. Davie, in his valua- 



ble book, speaks of this owl in Southern 

 California, nesting in various places, 

 such as birns, holes in banks, bird 

 houses, old bird nests, holes in the 

 ground etc., but if they nest any place 

 except in hollow trees in this locality, I 

 have never heard of it. 



G-eo. W. Pitman, 

 New Castle, Ind. 



The Sagacity of Fish Hawks. 



While at Eron, N. J., last summer, I 

 was much surprised at the sagacity of 

 a flock of Fish Hawks. 



My brother and I were out collecting 

 one day, when I saw a fine specimen 

 perched ou the top branch of a tree, 

 situated not far from an orchard. 



I shot and the ball hit on its wing. 

 The bird dropped, fluttering and 

 screeching from bough to bough until 

 he contrived to clutch at a strong fork- 

 ed branch and rested there. 



All day long he sat uttering piercing 

 screams, aud the next morning was 

 found to have gathered around him a 

 large circle of hawks who seemed to be 

 holding council. Each in turn chatter- 

 ed busily, as if giving advice or pro- 

 posing plans of relief, while their 

 wounded brother seemed to listen 

 eagerly and now aud then put in a 

 word. 



We called several friends, and the ap- 

 proach of human beings produced great 

 consternation among the birds, but 

 they did not fly away and desert the 

 disabled one. 



They fed the bird several times, some 

 fllyiug to the ocean and bringing small 

 fish in their claws. 



It was- easily seen, however, that the 

 nearness of the tree to the orchard 

 caused the greatest anxiety, and even 

 after the invalid's hunger was satisfied 

 the other birds kept flyiug away in 

 parties, while others perched on the 

 tree as if waiting for the messengers 

 return. It was soon evident that some 



