82 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 6-No. 11. 



and sprigs of willows and aspens, some of 

 tlie latter had been peeled by beavers, 

 which were common in the vicinity. The 

 sticks were still green and pliable. This 

 drew my attention to the nest, which I at 

 first mistook for that of a Raven or Crow. 

 The inside of this nest was about five 

 inches deep and lined with dry grass and 

 feathers. It contained four fresh eggs. 

 On April 4th, 1877, also near Camp Har- 

 ney, Oregon, I found a nest of this Owl 

 in a rather unusual position. This was an 

 old Hawks' nest which had been repaired. 

 It was placed in a small and very open 

 scraggy juniper bush, not over six feet 

 from the ground, the bush standing by it- 

 self a prominent mark on the point of a 

 table-land, and there were no other trees 

 or bushes within a mile of it. The nest 

 was in plain view and could be seen several 

 hundred yards off. It contained six eggs 

 on the point of hatching. 



The usual number of eggs laid by the 

 Long-eared Owl on the P.tcific coast is five, 

 although six in a set are by no means rare. 

 When fresh, the egg^ are of a bright white 

 color. They are about equally rounded on 

 both ends and rather globular in shape. 

 They average about 1.60 inches in length 

 by 1.32 inches wide, and vary considerable 

 in size, but rarely in shape. The large 

 series in my collection cannot be gut at 

 conveniently to give a number of measure- 

 ments. The Long-eared Owl commences 

 laying during the first week in April, and I 

 believe that they rear but a single brood 

 in a season. They will lay a second and 

 sometimes a third set after losing their first 

 one, and will occupy the same nest for sev- 

 eral seasons, if not too often disturbed. 

 The eggs are hatched in about sixteen days 

 .and the young for the first two weeks are 

 covered with a thick, grayish down. Their 

 food consists principally of mice and the 

 smaller rodents, and I doubt if they are 

 guilty of catching small birds- In the day- 

 time, particularly on a bright, sunny day, 

 the Long-eared Owl will allow itself to be 

 closely approached, and when the intruder 

 is discovered by them, they appear to me 



that they try to make themselves look as 

 small and long as possible, by pressing all 

 their feathers, which usually are puffed 

 out, as close to their body as practicable, 

 sitting at the same time erect and still. 

 They may, in such a position, be readily 

 mistaken for a piece of a broken limb, par- 

 ticularly if sitting on a larger one. At 

 times they are gregarious. I remember 

 seeing some fifteen or more of these birds 

 sitting on a single small mesquit tree in a 

 dense thicket near my camp on Rillitto 

 creek, Arizona, in the winter of 1872 and 

 1873. Their call-note, as near as I can re- 

 member, resembles that of the Screech 

 Owl, and I think that they are constant res- 

 idents wherever found. 



Yellow or Red shafted Flicker, 

 which ? — Some six years ago a German 

 collector called at the store of John Wal- 

 lace, N. Y., and exhibited a Woodpecker 

 that was evenly divided down the centre of 

 the back from the bill to the end of the 

 tail, one-half being yellow-shafted and the 

 other half red-shafted. The division was 

 perfect. Mr. Wallace examined the bird 

 with great care to see that no trick was be- 

 ing played, and he vouches for its being 

 bona fide. The owner put too high a price 

 on the bird. It was taken to Germany, 

 but not finding a purchaser there it was 

 -•brought back to New York, and finally to 

 Lake Winnipeg, where the owner belonged. 



At the present time Mr. Wallace has a 

 specimen that is yellow-shafted above and" 

 red-shafted under the wings; but the red 

 has faded somewhat since the bird was 

 mounted and exposed to the light. 



Notes from Shelter Island. — Oc- 

 tober 25th, saw ten White-bellied Swal- 

 lows and a Black-billed C'lckoo. Novem- 

 ber 2 1 St, saw a fine adult Bald Ea^le fly 

 over pursued as usual by a mob of Crows. 

 November 23d, I heard a familiar bird-note, 

 and on looking up saw, to my surprise, a 

 White-bellied Swallow. It was flying in 

 an easterly direction. The Red-headed 

 Woodpecker has also been common here 

 since September. They are rare here in 

 spring-time. — Moses B. Griffing. 



