THE O0LOG1ST. 



9 



Owls' eggs. There were seven or eight 

 collectors in our place at that time, 

 and two, B F. Sykes and Dennis Nolan, 

 soon developed into excellent climbers 

 with the irons. Together with the aid 

 of F. H. Chapin they gathered twelve 

 to fifteen complete sets of eggs within a 

 few years and found many nests of 

 young. 



Then came other collectors; a new 

 generation as we may say. For the last 

 few years Dick and Joe Westnedge, 

 George Judson and Kib. Willhelm have 

 attended to the collecting of the Owls' 

 and early Hawks' nests. There are 

 other collectors who have dipped into 

 this dangerous and difficult class of 

 collecting, but they quickly dropped it 

 after one season's work. The pe- 

 cuniary remuneration is in no Avise suf- 

 ficient to tempt one to follow the busi- 

 ness, and if one is not thoroughly in 

 earnest as a. collector he soon gives it 

 up. 



It would be difficult to hunt up the data 

 of all the sets of Hoots taken in this(Kal- 

 amazoo) county, but a few of the more 

 recent records are presented. The sites 

 for the eggs must be located in January 

 or early February and the birds watch- 

 ed. It was a common thing for Svkes 

 to go collecting for Hoots' eggs when 

 the snow was a foot or more deep in 

 the woods and he has told me that he 

 has found three or four inches of snow 

 accumulated on the edges of those 

 nests built in exposed situations. 



Mr. Westnedge hands me the follow- 

 ing notes on the nesting of this species, 

 and in addition to these notes he has 

 found uiue instances where the young 

 had already hatched. 



In 1891 he secured a single set of 

 three fresh eggs from a hollow in a 

 large red oak in dense woods. The 

 hollow was thirty feet from the ground 

 and the date was Feb. 28th. 



In 1892 he secured two sets of three 

 on Feb. 20th. One set, fresh, was in a 

 hollow maple about 25 feet up and at 



the edge of the timber. The, other set, 

 advanced in incubation, was in an old 

 Crow's nest 3.5 feet up and in opeu 

 woods. This nest had no lining. 



In 1893 he found four nests with eggs. 

 On Feb. 20th a, set of two incubated 

 eggs in a cavity 50 feet from the ground 

 in a large elm in heavy timber. 



March 11th a set of two fresh eggs in 

 old nest 60 feet from the ground in a 

 beech in heavy timber. This nest was 

 lined with leaves and a lot of feathers. 



March 22nd, a nest in oak 30 feet up 

 in dense forest. Held a single egg. 



March 30th. A set of three about 

 ready to hatch. Eggs in an old Hawk's 

 nest about 50 feet up. Nest well lined. 



Mr. Sykes informs me that he has 

 taken five complete sets of eggs, with 

 only two in each nest. Of these nests 

 three were in hollows and two were the 

 old nests of Buzzard Hawks. He also- 

 found several nests of young. He says 

 the eggs are about as often laid in cav- 

 ities as in nests of Crows and HaAvks. 



K. It. Willhelm who has taken a num- 

 ber of sets of eggs of two and three, 

 has only found a feAv nests of the Great 

 Horned Owl in IioIIoavs. 



These notes of capture are very in- 

 teresting to collectors. It will he seen 

 that Mr. Willhelm found young birds in 

 his first six nests and his work went 

 for naught from 188G to 1889 in this 

 line. But although he was so unlucky 

 in April and May of these years he was 

 so fortunate as to take sixteen eggs in 

 February and March, 1890 to '92 in- 

 clusive. This clearly shows that Feb- 

 ruary is the month for Horned Owls' 

 nests. Mr. Westnedge was very suc- 

 cessful in securing nine eggs from his 

 first three sets. 



The note of young birds found on Feb. 

 23d is a remarkable one. Reasoning 

 that this owl sets three weeks it neces- 

 sarilly follows that the first egg in this 

 nest was laid on the twentieth of Janu- 

 ary or a little later. 



Mr. Willhelm's notes on the Great 



