THE OOLOGIST 



83 



fectly fresh eggs. I say "perfectly 

 iresh," but— as is common with this owl 

 — one egg, probably the first laid, was 

 slightly bloody. 



On the other hand, I have seen sets of 

 the Barn Owl taken late in May which 

 were comparatively fresh, and at this 

 writing, April 11th, I have just thrown 

 away two sets, of four and three eggs 

 respectively, of the Western Red-tail, 

 which were too far advanced to save. 

 They were brought me by the same lad 

 who has jast given me the set of Barn 

 Owl's mentioned above. 



Harry A. Ddnn, Fullerton, Cal. 



The Movements of Birds. 



(third paper.) 



The flight of the Owls of my acquaint- 

 ance is not rapid, and is not even as 

 ^reat as that of the Buzzard Hawks. 

 Their movements on the wing are 

 noiseless. All Owls are more or less 

 diurnal, and the Great-Horned Owl is 

 /able to capture its prey in the day time, 

 which it does during its brooding. The 

 ^flight of Owls is in a direct line, but 

 they can change the course or drop on 

 the perch or prey in a most unexpected 

 manner. Owls fly with the wings fully 

 extended, and to one acquainted with 

 the birds of a locality it is very easy to 

 identify the species at a considerable 

 distance. 



The Cuckoos are not strong flyers, 

 but are exceedingly graceful in their 

 movements, and may be likened to the 

 Pigeons in flight for the want of a bet- 

 ter comparison. With their long tails, 

 and their sinuous course in flight they 

 cause much speculation among the 

 amateur observers. 



The Belted Kingfisher has a gait of its 

 own — a combination of the Flicker and 

 Butcherbird. This well known species 

 has a habit of poising in the air when 

 about to drop on a fish. I have seen 

 one hover in one spot for over a half 

 minute before diving. This habit is al- 



so observed in the Osprey and Brown 

 Pelican, both of which plunge for their 

 prey but in a very different manner. 

 The custom of hovering above possible 

 victims is noticeable in many species, 

 and is common with the Sparrow Hawk 

 when it makes a dive for a bird or in 

 merely dropping for a grasshopper. 

 Many species appear to follow this 

 habit as a variation in the methods of 

 courtship, and I have repeatedly seen 

 Bluebirds offering song in this position. 

 The Fycatchers, especially the Wood 

 Pewee and Kingbird are given to hov- 

 ering in this manner. The Red-headed 

 Woodpecker is also an example. 



Everyone is familiar with the undu- 

 lating flight of the Woodpecker. A 

 spasmodic, noisy style of locomotion 

 which cannot be confounded with the 

 flight of any other birds. With all 

 which I have studied, the flight may be 

 described as a few rapid strokes of the 

 wings and an upward shoot, followed 

 by a descending sweep. This is pro- 

 nounced in all the members of the fam- 

 ily, and the big Pileated Woodpecker 

 has the same undulations that is ob- 

 served in the Little Downy, but in a 

 greater degree. Have my readers care- 

 fully watched a Woodpecker leave its 

 perch on the trunk or limb? The 

 bird throws itself backward from its 

 vertical position by a leg spring, to- 

 gether with a tail movement, turns in 

 the air in the fraction of a second and 

 is sweeping away to the next parch. 

 Arriving at the next resting plvice it 

 makes a single counteracting stroke of 

 the wings against the air, and perches 

 lightly on the bark of the limb or trunk. 

 The duck spends five to ten seconds in 

 getting ready and alighting, and the 

 Grouse makes a pitch and runs to keep 

 its balance, the Herons settle and flop 

 their wings as the legs paw the air for 

 a perch. But the Woodpeckers fly 

 straight for a perch, and just when you 

 think that they are to bring up against 

 the tree, and as any other bird would 



