A Family of Barn Owls 



BY THOMAS H. JACKSON, West Chester, Pa. 



With photographs from nature by the author 



OWLS, as well as other birds, are largely influenced in the choice of 

 nesting sites by the nature of their surroundings. 



The Barn Owl in many parts of the country nests in holes in 

 the bailcs of water-courses or ravines; or, where ruined and deserted build- 

 ings are accessible, such places are often used in which to rear their 

 young. 



Here in eastern Pennsylvania, where the Barn Oa^I is generally quite 

 an uncommon resident, only a single nest has come under the personal 

 notice of the writer, and it was in the hollow of a large tree. 



BARN OWLS, ABOUT THREE WEEKS OLD 



Early in May, 1902, I found a nest of this species containing six 

 eggs, one on the point of hatching. The site was a large cavity in 

 a red maple tree about twenty feet from the ground, and just beside 

 a stream in the midst of a large tract of swamp land — an ideal spot for 

 meadoA^-mice and other food that go to make up the menu of these 

 birds. 



A visit to the tree one week later found five young birds and one 

 egg in the nest, the young birds differing much in size. 



(47) 



