86 



IHE OOLOGIST. 



Perhaps this aristocratic origin may 

 account for her lack of skill in house- 

 lieeping, for her nest is carelessly 

 thrown together and is maintained in a 

 most slatternly style. Night rovei's, 

 birds of prey they must shun the light, 

 and pass the day in some gloomy hiding 

 place where their many enemies cannot 

 find them. 



Many of them find safe retreats in the 

 lofts of barns and other out buildings, 

 where they pay a generous rent to the 

 owner by riding the premises of mice 

 and rats. One species in particular 

 shows such a marked preference for 

 barns as hunting grounds and places of 

 residence that it has come to be gener- 

 ally known as the Barn Owl. 



A more natural site for an Owl's nest, 

 however, is the hollow in some old tree, 

 and as the birds stay carefully hid in the 

 day time their nests would be difficult 

 to find were ir not for a very singular 

 habit which Owls have. They subsist ex- 

 clusively on animal food and are so very 

 greedy that when they catch a mouse 

 or a little bird they do not pick it to 

 pieces before eating but swallow the 

 little victim, bones, skin, fur or feathers 

 and all. When their prey is too large 

 for even their capacious throats and 

 cannot be bolted outright they tear off 

 large pieces and swallow them down, 

 without ever thinking of picking out 

 the good from the bad, and leaving 

 nothing but the very largest bones. I 

 once saw an Owl in a cage swallow a 

 head, beak and all, which had been cut 

 from a large hen. 



Now bones, fur and feathers are not 

 ^very digestible, especially for a bird like 

 ithe Owl, which is not provided with a 

 tough gizzard for grinding up hard food. 

 The indigestible matter must be dispos- 

 (Cd of in some way, and the Owl is equal 

 to the task. When after a night's suc- 

 cessful hunting he has eaten a hearty 

 meal he retires to his home in the hol- 

 low tree and takes a quiet nap to aid 

 digestion. Waking up after a time he 



stretches up his neck and thrusting his 

 head out of his doorway quietly throws 

 up all the refuse matter eaten in his last 

 night's feast. Skin, bones and feathers, 

 all perfectly dry, and having all the 

 meat digested off of them, are dropped 

 down outside rolled up in little balls. 

 These little balls are called Owl pellets, 

 and although they may be found any- 

 where in the woods they often indicate 

 that there is an Owl's nest overhead, or 

 somewhere near. 



These are not sure signs to follow, but 

 they indicate the place where an Owl has 

 been, and that is better than climbing 

 trees at random 'and examining every 

 old hollow in the woods. 



One morning late in April I was pass- 

 ing through an old orchard on my way 

 to the woods when I noticed Owl pellets 

 beneath an apple tree. A nest, I 

 thought, I must lind and examine it for 

 it was about the right season for young 

 Owls. Walking around the tree I look- 

 ed critically up at it, but it was sound 

 with no place for a nest, so I turned to 

 to the next tree in the row, and there 

 at its foot I saw not one but a dozen of 

 the telb tale pellets. Directly above 

 them, not over eight feet from the 

 ground was a rough scar where some 

 great branch had been broken off by a 

 storm. 



Catching hold of a low limb I silently 

 drew myself up. Yes, as I had expected, 

 the shattered wood had decayed around 

 the blighted spot and a hole had rotted 

 deep into the trunk and the cavity was 

 certainly inhabited. Wrapping my 

 handkerchief around my hand,for Owl's 

 beaks are sharp, I reached in and 

 brought out a beautiful little Mottled 

 Owl. Dazed and startled at being so 

 unexpectedly lifted off her nest she gaz- 

 ed stupidly about with her great staring 

 eyes, pecked two or thi^ee times at my 

 hand but did not struggle as much as a 

 common hen would on being caught. 



Peering down into the hollow I found 

 it filled with grass, leaves, moss and a 



