shell is white, when clean, with a granular surface moderately polished. They are spheroidal in shape 

 and measure from 2.17 to 2.30 inches in long-diameter by 1.80 to 2.10 in short-diameter. The common 

 size is about 1.95 x 2.20. Three eggs from three sets measure 1.95 x 2.20, 1.80 x 2.18, and 1.82 x 2.17. 



I 

 DIFFERENTIAL POINTS : 



See page 216. 



REMARKS : 



The three eggs illustrated Fig. 4, Plate LIX, represent the common shapes and sizes. 



The Great Horned Owl is the earliest of all our birds to begin the cares of housekeeping. Often 

 some weeks before winter has fairly taken its departure, a home has been built or rented, and the mother- 

 bird is busily engaged in the wearisome task of incubation. As early as the 15th of February I have 

 found this Owl sitting on a complement of eggs, when the weather was so cold that a single hour's neg- 

 lect would most certainly have resulted in their destruction by freezing. 



On the 26th of March, 1881, the ground was covered with several inches of snow and the tempera- 

 ture for some days had been below freezing. Upon the day mentioned I visited a nest and found 

 the female sitting surrounded by snow. She suffered me to approach within a few feet before she took 

 flight. I then discovered two owlets about the size of goslings two days old, and covered with down of 

 much the same color. I took them home and found them the most ungainly youngsters I had yet 

 examined. They were strong with their feet and could make one cry out with pain when the hand 

 was grabbed in their talons, yet they were too feeble to walk and rolled over with every attempt. 

 When undisturbed they made a curious noise; each one of them alone made sounds which resembled a 

 whole flock of little chicks huddled under their mother's wings, and when put under a hat, no one could 

 guess from the peepings the number of peepers. The weather seems to have but little influence over the 

 nesting of this owl. When the middle of February arrives, whatever the temperature may be, oviposition 

 becomes the all-absorbing topic. Just the proportion of birds which build in cavities to those which nest 

 among the branches it is difficult to estimate. I am inclined to believe they are about equally divided. 

 Of the birds which nest in the latter position, but few construct their own homes. The owl can become 

 a pretty fair architect, constructing a nest as well as the Red-tailed Hawk, but it is generally too care- 

 less or lazy to try its skill in this direction. It prefers to take advantage of the labor of some other bird, 

 generally the Red-tailed or Red-shouldered Hawk, and, laying its eggs earlier than these birds, it has the 

 privilege of choosing from all nests of the previous year. I have in mind one nest in a very large willow- 

 tree, three miles below, Circleville which has been occupied during the past six years, two seasons by the 

 Great Horned Owl, and three by the Red-tailed Hawk, one year it was tenantless. 



When a pair of Owls take possession of an old nest, it is renovated only by the addition of a new 

 lining. The mother-bird sits very closely during the three weeks of incubation, and the male bird is 

 very attentive to her and probably brings her food, and, at times, relieves her at her task. If the eggs 

 are not yet hatched the female will often slip from her nest at the approach of man before he is within 

 gunshot, but if the young have made their appearance she will boldly defend them. 



The Owl bolts its food and throws out of its stomach whatever in the way of hair, feathers, and bones 

 can not be digested. Their capacity at swallowing is considerable. I have over and over again fed to my 

 pet Owls large Norway rats, which they would swallow head foremost without breaking the skin, and, 

 hours afterward, the tails of the rats could be seen dangling from the mouths of the satiated and now 

 sleepy Owls. As digestion proceeded the tails would slip down and finally disappear. In due time the 

 remains of the rat which could not be assimilated would be vomited up in the form of a ball, and the 

 Owl be again ready for another feast. 



218 



