March 31st, a large new nest that I supposed be- 

 longed to a Red Tailed Hawk. It was situated far 

 out on a limb on the downhill side of a tree. Rapping 

 on the tree sharply I was surprised and delighted to 

 see a great Owl flap slowly and silently away. The 

 storm which has since been known as the great bliz- 

 zard of '88 had occurred two weeks previous and I 

 was still suffering from a slight rheumatic attack 

 brought on by exposure, and I therefore procured the 

 services of another man to do the climbing. He, 

 though quite able to climb any tree, refused when he 

 reached the limb, to risk his life so far above the 

 ground, as the tree was situated on the steep side hill, 

 and it and the limb in which the nest was built inclined 

 to the downhill side. I was therefore myself forced to 

 put on the irons and make the ascent, and I will al- 

 ways remember working myself along this horizontal 

 limb 100 or more feet above the ground with the tree 

 swaying from side to side in the raw March wind. 

 Nothing but anticipation of the novel experience of 

 looking into a Great Horned Owl's nest could have 

 driven me on. 



I was well rewarded, for in the nest were two young 

 owls only two weeks old. On the platform which 

 formed the rim of the nest, and which if I remember 

 correctly was about a foot wide all the way around 

 and which seemed to be the "store-room" of the Owls 

 were ranged around three rabbits and a woodcock; 

 the rabbits were cut neatly in half and the woodcock's 

 head had been eaten off. On the ground below the 

 tree was a dead young Owl which evidently had per- 

 ished during the blizzard, as the growth of the other 

 two in the meantime showed. 



10 



