38 



THE OOLOGIST 



Crows in close pursuit. None of them 

 seemed to notice me until they had 

 passed. After reaching the ground I 

 stared up into the top of a leaning 

 tree nearby and saw the other young 

 Owl. 



After playing with the one that had 

 fallen long enough to find out that 

 with all his turkey-gobbler strutting 

 and cute appearance, he was too dan- 

 gerous for a pet, I grasped the tip of 

 one wing, placed him on a leaning 

 tree nearby, where he would be in no 

 danger from dogs, and left him, hoping 

 that he and his mate would have no 

 other bad luck than to lay a fine set 

 of eggs for my cabinet next year. 



Ncdt number two was found Febru- 

 ary 20, 1916, in a large, dense, hundred- 

 acre woods about a quarter of a mile 

 west of the woods containing nest 

 number one. The female attracted my 

 attention by flying off the nest with 

 a swish of wings, when I was fifty 

 feet from the tree. The nest was 

 about twenty-five feet high in the fork 

 of a large elm and appeared to be an 

 old Crow's nest with a great number 

 of huffy Owl feathers clinging to the 

 sides. I had no climbers, but fortu- 

 nately a large ivy vine reached to a 

 large branch just below the nest and 

 I lost no time in testing it and decid- 

 ing it would be safe to climb. Anyone 

 who has climbed a rope for twenty- 

 five feet knows they were plenty tired 

 enough upon reaching the top without 

 having to pull themselves over the 

 beam, rod or branch to which the rope 

 was tied; at least that was the way 

 I found myself at the end of the vine, 

 and as I pulled myself up over the 

 branch it seemed to me that if I had 

 weighed another pound I never could 

 have made the grade. After lying on 

 the branch and taking a long rest I 

 rose and took a look at the two dirty 

 eggs which lay on the heavy mat of 

 down and feathers. 



I had imagined they would be white 

 as snow, and much more nearly spher- 

 ical than they were and though dis- 

 appointed in this respect was glad 

 nevertheless to get them, no matter 

 how they looked. Mrs. Owl crouched 

 on a branch of a tree, about one hun- 

 dred feet away and did considerable 

 whoo-ing. After a long rest I slid 

 down the trunk of the tree and started 

 for home with my prizes. Upon ar- 

 riving home I found the eggs very 

 heavily incubated and requiring the 

 drilling of large holes. 



Nest number three, found March 10, 

 1916. This nest appeared to be that 

 of a hawk and very likely had been 

 the home of Cooper Hawks the year 

 before. The nest was about forty 

 feet up in a slender dead elm near the 

 center of the woods, containing nest 

 number two. Both birds were seen 

 near the nest. This tree was easy to 

 climb without the aid of climbing irons 

 and I soon reached the nest only t*^ 

 find that no eggs had yet been laid. 



Two days later in the afternoon 

 found me back in the woods without 

 much hope that the birds had re- 

 turned. However Owl "horns" were 

 plainly showing and twitching above 

 the nest and a rap on the treee caused 

 Mrs. Owl to leave. The nest was soon 

 reached and the two snow-white eggs 

 were in my possession. A few bits of 

 twigs and buds had been added since 

 I had examined the nest two days be- 

 fore, but there were no feathers or 

 other lining on this thick flat nest. I 

 have always felt that these eggs had 

 been laid by the same bird I had 

 robbed in February and that I had 

 done them a great injustice by taking 

 the second set. 



Nest number four was found about 

 February 15, 1917, (exact date not 

 known) ; I recall that the afternoon 

 was very pleasant and warm for this 

 time of year and that Mr. Don Parady, 



