shadow caused me to look up suddenly and I saw the 

 Owl coming at me in full flight and distant only a few 

 feet. I could only dodge my head for both arms were 

 engaged in holding on to the limbs which composed 

 the crotch in which the nest was placed. The bird 

 passed by striking me on the hat with his bill or talons 

 and flew right on, fortunately not turning to make 

 another attack. I did not however wait for one and 

 lost no time in descending. 



These nests and several others with young or eggs 

 found in the Great Swamp below Basking Ridge 

 cause me to believe that the first ten days in February 

 is the usual time for laying the eggs and that the full 

 set is three, though often two. 



The Great Horned Owl is generally considered a 

 rare bird in the Eastern States, and Somerset Hills 

 has been in the past unusually favored as a locality 

 for studying the species. Perhaps the opportunity 

 is not entirely past, for only last year I heard the deep 

 toned hooting of one of them toward early morning in 

 midsummer. Although this species like all Owls is 

 nocturnal it must not be supposed it cannot see by day, 

 for on the contrary it is one of our wildest birds, who, 

 seeing a man approaching, flies off from a greater dis- 

 tance than any of our hawks, and with the exception 

 of those of which I have told I have not been close to 

 any of them except only when I have flushed a female 

 from her nest by rapping on the tree. 



They make their homes in woods of large timber, 

 and during the day sit quietly close to the trunk of 

 a large tree or perhaps in some cedar, but will not 

 allow a man to approach; when forced to move they 



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