Great Horned Owl 165 



do great damage to growing crops and frequently girdle and kill young fruit 

 trees. So these Owls in such places assuredly render great service in helping 

 to keep down the increase of these rodents. All Owls seem to like rats and mice, 

 immense numbers of which are taken about outhouses or farms, as well as in 

 the woods and along the borders of fields. 



When a Hawk captures a bird it picks off the feathers and throws them to 

 the winds. An Owl, however, does not take this trouble. It will swallow a 

 mouse whole, and if a bird is not too large will consume it in a like manner. 

 Nature has arranged the Owl's stomach in such way that this plucking is done 

 afterward and the fur, feathers, and bones which are indigestible are rolled into 

 a compact mass and later ejected from the mouth. Not two weeks ago I found 

 where an Owl had been roosting. On the ground below were several dozen of 

 these pellets. This particular Owl had been feeding largely on mice, and the 

 pellets were all of the same character. They consisted of a mass of fur more 

 or less cemented together, and every one examined was found to contain the 

 skull of a mouse. 



The Great Horned Owl undoubtedly occasionally builds its own nest, but 

 as a rule it selects the old nest of some Crow or Hawk to which it may add a 

 few twigs. At times it lays its eggs in the hollows of large trees. In Florida the 

 hollow trunks of trees appear to be used almost exclusively. Very little if any 

 nesting material is used, in such cases the eggs simply being deposited on the 

 rotten wood at the bottom of the cavity. In some of the regions of the West, 

 where suitable nesting-trees are scarce, the birds often select crevices on rocky 

 cliffs. In northern California I once visited a ranch where the owner told me 

 that a pair of Great Horned Owls had made their nest and reared their young 

 in the loft of his barn. We started out with the intention of paying the Owlets 

 a visit. In passing a weird clump of small trees we were surprised to find a 

 young Horned Owl sitting on the ground beneath them. It had left the shelter 

 of the barn only the night previous. The other young one had also departed 

 but we were unable to discover it. 



It will be seen that the Great Horned Owl, like many other birds, builds its 

 nest in a variety of situations, and the spot selected for the abode of its young 

 must naturally depend on the character of the country in which the bird lives. 

 In the southern part of its range it has been known to begin its family duties as 

 early as January or even December. In New York state nests are found as 

 early as February, and even in far away Alaska the bird turns its attention to 

 its duties in April, where the ground is covered with snow and the icicles may 

 be hanging from the trees. Usually two eggs are laid, although three and 

 sometimes four have been found in a nest. About four weeks are required for 

 the eggs to hatch. The young develop very slowly and two and one-half or 

 three months will elapse before they are large enough to leave the nest, and 

 they may be five months of age before the down of youth has entirely 

 disappeared. 



