Barn Owls Nesting in New York City 225 
food and looking in without entering. In the branches of the tree she perched 
silently, and seemed to have lost heart in everything. On May 26, I opened 
the door, only to find the six nestlings dead. For three days there had been a 
cold rain, and the tender young needed the mother’s body to keep them warm; 
but she could not both brood them and feed them. She chose the latter, but 
they succumbed to the cold and damp. 
What happened to the male bird I cannot tell. Some careless person may 
have killed it thoughtlessly, just to see how well he could shoot, never sus- 
pecting that in killing this one bird he was killing seven. In our home there 
could not have been more sincere sorrow if our pet cat or favorite dog were 
dead. But next year we are hoping to rent our Chickadee home to another 
pair, and this time to raise the brood successfully. 
Barn Owls Nesting in New York City 
By HOWARD H. CLEAVES, Staten Island, N.Y. 
With photographs by the author 
WESTERN reader of Brrp-Lorr, who does not know exactly what 
territory New York City embraces, might think it impossible, or 
at least improbable, that a pair of Barn Owls could be found nesting 
within the limits of the great metropolis. He might be equally surprised to 
learn that a Wood Duck reared a brood there not more than four seasons ago, 
and that Woodcock still nest there in considerable numbers. His amazement 
might be almost as great if he were told that Barred Owls, Red-shouldered 
Hawks, Killdeers, Blue-winged Warblers and Hummingbirds also find it 
congenial to build their nests there. But this delightful state of affairs could 
easily be made clear by explaining that semi-rural Staten Island is a part of 
the City of New York. : 
Had it not been for Mr. William T. Davis, our only pair of Barn Owls on 
Staten Island might have passed unnoticed, officially. He had known a farmer 
on the southern shore of the island for many years, and used to have the man 
report to him when the Barn Swallows had arrived each spring. One year, 
Mr. Davis was told by his friend of strange sounds that had been heard near 
the barn at night, and, from the description, it was concluded that the noise 
must have been made by an Owl. Investigation proved that not only was it 
an Owl, but that it was a Barn Owl, and that the bird and its mate occupied 
an old pigeon-cote at one corner of the main barn. 
At a meeting of the Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences, held 
November 17, 1906, Mr. Davis read a paper on these Owls, in which he said: 
“On the fifteenth of last September, I climbed as silently as I could to the 
pigeon-loft, but the Owls heard me coming and flew to the neighboring trees. 
