THE 



WILSON BULLETI 



NO. 96. 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY 



VOL. XXVIII SEPTEMBER, 1916 NO. 3 



OLD SERIES VOL. XXVIII. NEW^ SERIES VOL. XXIII. 



A STRANGE NESTING OF THE BARRED OWL AND 

 RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. 



BY WALTER A. GOELITZ. 

 (With Photographs by the Author.) 



We often read of Bluebirds, Sparrow Hawks, Screech 

 Owls, and various Woodpeckers living congenially together, 

 but it is seldom that we find the larger birds of prey nesting 

 in the same tree. Several years ago I noticed an article, in 

 which it was stated that there is a continual feud between the 

 Red-tailed Hawk and the Great Horned Owl and one would 

 naturally expect this relation to exist, to a certain extent, be- 

 tween other members of nocturnal and diurnal birds of prey. 

 The following data may be of interest upon this subject: 



On April 9, 1916, as I was walking through a large patch 

 of timber along Camp Creek, about half way between Monti- 

 cello and White Heath, Piatt County, Illinois, I was attracted 

 by the call notes of a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo I. linnea- 

 tus). I soon found an old dilapidated-looking nest, which 

 was surrounded by the usual white breast down of nesting 

 hawks. It was situated thirty-five feet up in a crotch against 

 the trunk of a large, leaning white oak. I commenced climb- 

 ing the tree and had hardly touched it when, on looking up- 

 ward, I saw a Barred Owl (Syrnium v. varium) launch it- 

 self from a hollow stub near the hawk nest. 



The nest of the hawk was composed of a few sticks laid 

 upon an old squirrel nest and was lined with a small pad of 

 leaves and white feathers. It contained four slightly incu- 



