THE OOLOGIST 



ST 



man' to pick out this specimen from 

 your collection. 



Never lay aside a mounted specimen 

 simply because it has lost some feathers 

 from different parts of the body, but 

 take your tweezers and some bric-a- 

 brac skin and glue (liquid glue prefer- 

 red) set feathers in the vacant spots. 

 Be careful and get feathers that match 

 in color and markings. 



I hope this will help at least a few, and 

 in the near future hear from others who 

 have any suggestions to offer. 



Nathan L. Davis. 

 Rochester, N. Y. 



Great Horned Owl in Iowa. 



As I was looking across the cold, 

 bleak iields to-day (Jan. 28) toward the 

 timber, my attention was attracted by 

 the clatter of crows. They seemed to 

 be finding fault with a large dark-color- 

 ed bird which v\ as sitting with apparent 

 indifference in the top of a tall cotton- 

 wood tree. I listened intently and soon 

 heard the low but distinct hoo-hoo of 

 what I felt certain was a male Gt. 

 Horned Owl. This not only reminds 

 me that the nesting season of this bird 

 is here, but that I had interesting ex- 

 periences with Bubo last winter which 

 I could relate to the OoLOGiST readers, 

 the powers that be permitting. 



My collecting notes for 1892 show 

 that I collected six sets of the Gt. Horned 

 Owl in the vicinity of Norway, Benton 

 Co., Iowa. It is the points of interest 

 in connection with the collection of 

 these sets, and also in connection with 

 two other sets which I might have col- 

 lected but didn't, that I wish to give. 



The size, shape, color, measurements 

 etc., of the eggs themselves are prob- 

 ably too well known to require mention 

 here. 



My long hunting trips were all fruit- 

 less uutil Fr'b. 13 which will be remem- 

 bered as the warm clear day on which 

 occurred our most brilliant display of 

 aurora borealis. I had traveled eight 



miles through patches of timber rap- 

 ping with a stout stick on hollow trees 

 or the trunks of others containing old 

 nests. One large bass-wood contained 

 an old nest about sixty-live feet from 

 the ground which- from appearances 

 had not been used for .years. After 

 giving the trunk of the tree two or three 

 raps with no result, I was about to pass 

 on; but, as the snow was soft and wet, 

 I concluded to lay siege to the nest for 

 a minute in another way. Taking a 

 position where the nest could be plain- 

 ly seen, I whs encouraged at seeing 

 what looked like a small tuft of brown 

 feathers projecting above the mass of 

 sticks. Then taking aside step I could 

 see another tuft near it, and the snow 

 balls began to fly in earnest. 



One of them strucka branchless than 

 two feet above the nest and the pieces 

 flew in all directions, but those ear tufts 

 did not move. Exasperated at this I 

 started up the tree, and when part way 

 up the owl left the nest, the three fresh 

 eggs formed a pretty center to the ring 

 of snow which encircled them. 



Set two, Feb. 20, consisting of two 

 fresh eggs was .found fifty feet from the 

 the ground in an old hawk's nest in a 

 white oak tree. The owl in this case 

 left the nest at the rap on the trunk; al- 

 though the day was much colder than 

 in the previous instance. 



In the case of set three, the owl was 

 remarkable in just the opposite direc- 

 tion from the one with set one. I found 

 the nest with a few loose feathers cling- 

 ing to it by the middle of February, but 

 con'.d not see or hear an owl anywhere. 

 I thought best not to disturb the nest 

 for a while, so went agaiu in about ten 

 days, and, although I approached the 

 nest cautiously, it was with the same 

 result as before. On Feb. 29 I went to 

 the nest again, but by a route from 

 which I could get a view of the nest at 

 a distance of two or three hundred yards. 

 This time I was just quick enough to 

 see the bird slip from the nest, drop 



