THE O. & O. SEMI-ANNUAL. 27 
On April 22d, ’89, after making a professional visit afoot, I 
found myself ten miles from the village of Bernadotte, a fine 
collecting territory lying between me and my destination. About 
one-half the distance was along a small creek bottom, lined on 
either side by an occasional belt or grove of a dense growth of 
young oak timber. 
With the hope of finding the nest of a ‘‘Zebra” Woodpecker, 
(Melanerpes carolinus) or of the Hairy, (Dryobates villosus) or 
possibly that of the Screecher, (AZegascops asio) I was closely 
scanning every old willow and any other likely looking tree that 
came in my way. 
A few rods off to the right of the creek, I finally discovered quite 
a bulky nest, which had the unmistakable appearance of being 
occupied by a bird of some kind. From my position on the side 
hill below, no sign of life could be seen about the structure; but 
as I approached the foot of the tree, an apparition of long ears 
and yellow eyes appeared over the edge of the nest and peered 
curiously down at me. 
Buckling on my climbers I commenced the ascent, the owl re- 
maining on the nest till half the distance to it was climbed. This 
fact led me to diagnose young birds, which conclusion was 
verified when I reached it, finding six baby owls of different 
sizes, all in the downy plumage. The nest also contained one 
Meadow Mouse (Avicola riparius.) Hearing a eat-like sound 
behind me on the side hill, I turned around to see what it pro- 
ceeded from, when I was surprised to perceive one of the old 
owls on the ground, tumbling about among the leaves as though 
both legs were broken. 
About forty feet away in another tree I discovered a new-look- 
ing crow’s nest, but up to this time no crows in sight, when 
suddenly the owners of the nest appeared upon the scene, and 
discovering the owl tumbling about upon the ground, at once 
sounded the tocsin of alarm. In five minutes half a hundred 
crows were on hand to help expel this intruder. Coming down 
the owl tree I went up to the crows’ nest to see what it might 
contain. I found in it five bare-bodied black imps, their red 
mouths widely opened, mutely, yet eloquently begging for some- 
thing to eat. ; 
In the meantime the owl had arisen from the ground and flown 
to a distant part of the wood, followed by all the crows except 
