Barn Owls Nesting in New York City 229 
The situation was as plain as it was painful. The bird that we had just 
photographed was the male, who had been perching somewhere in the loft 
and had left at the sound of footsteps on the ladder. The female had remained 
at her post (which happened to be a nest containing eight eggs), where she 
had been discovered and captured by our “assistant.” The bird’s screams 
of distress suggested that her captor might be either choking her to death or 
wringing her neck. : 
_ “What's the trouble?” cried Abbott. 
“Oi’ve got an owool!” shouted the Irishman. 
“Let her go!” commanded Abbott. 
“She’s too valuable’ came from the recesses of the loft. 
“Yon’t hurt her, I tell you!” we both called in chorus. 
“Oi can get $5.00 for her” returned the villain from within. 
“You can’t get a cent for her” Abbott explained;” it’s against the law 
to kill her. She’s worth more alive than dead, and we'll make it worth your 
while to let her go.” 
But the only answer was another series of sickening outcries from the poor 
bird, so Abbott, who was nearest the end of the eaves, left his camera and 
made a rapid descent, to have, if necessary, a rather forcible interview with 
the man in the coop. Fortunately, for the Owl, the Irishman, on discovering 
that we were angry at his holding the bird captive, had not injured her in the 
least; and, when confronted by Abbott in person, he surrendered the prize. 
We then talked to the man as pleasantly as possible under the circum- 
stances, and explained that the Owls caught more rats and mice about the 
farm than a dozen cats. We did not forget, however, that it is wise occasion- 
ally to base one’s reasoning on the fact that money, in such cases, speaks 
louder than words. A substantial “tip” was pressed into our friend’s palm, 
. as he was instructed to have an eye to the welfare of the Owls and, as we bade 
him farewell and hinted that we would return in a week or two, he smiled 
and said, “Lave it to me. There’ll be nobody touchin’ ’em if I know about it!” 
Much to my relief, the subsequent visit proved that, although a few of the 
eggs had met with disaster, the rest had hatched and the voung were in good 
condition. On this occasion I was accompanied by Mr. Davis, and, with his 
-assistance, succeeded in again photographing the old Owl as she flew from the 
cote. Her mate was absent. 
The Owlets were, at that stage in their development, about as ill-propor- 
tioned and unsightly as anything in the bird world. One of them we photo- 
graphed. His feathers were still in the sheaths, his feet were large and ungainly, 
and his head was so big and heavy that it could only be swung slowly from 
side to side, much after the manner in which an elephant swings his trunk. 
While he was being handled and photographed, he was heard to give forth 
two or three different sounds, the one most frequently uttered being a plain- 
tive c/i-le-le-le, chi-le-le-le, chi-le-le-le, repeated very rapidly. 
