THE OOLOGIST 



38 



bones and fur contained in the pel- 

 lets lying around, 



A farm-yard with its stock of poul- 

 try was nearby, but no complaint was 

 made about the Owls disturbing them. 

 I am inclined to think the meadow- 

 nearby with its swarms of mice, fur- 

 nished the greater part of their food, 

 which was also shared by a pair of 

 Barn-owls that occupied a large oak 

 tree, on the other side of the march, 

 not a quarter of a mile away. 



Contrary to expectation these young 

 owls proved very tractable and inter- 

 esting pets. One of them, the larger 

 — probably the female — was quite 

 playful; the other rather morose and 

 more free to use beak and claws when 

 handled. 



Apparently their vision was just as 

 keen by broad daylight as in the even- 

 ing, and a small bird flying high above 

 would instantly attract their attention. 

 The presence of a cat would arouse 

 their ire quicker than anything else, 

 and their feathers would stand on end 

 as shown in the accompanying pic- 

 ture. Whenever pussy put in an ap- 

 pearance, they would assume a defen- 

 sive attitude, snap their beaks loudly 

 and make an imposing display, but 

 how far they would carry it, I never 

 had a chance to see; for the cat got 

 away as quickly as possible. 



In this part of the country, the 

 Horned Owls generally use an open 

 nest, that of a crow or hawk, some- 

 times repaired and added to, and some- 

 times just as the original owner left 

 it. Out of upwards of fifty nests 1 

 have found but a single one in a hol- 

 low tree. 



I greatly regret that these fine birds 

 have become so scarce. There is no 

 sound coming out of the deep dark 

 woods more attractive to my ear than 

 the solemn booming notes of these 

 great birds, as they answer each other 

 through the night; but it has been a 



good many years since I have enjoyed 

 that experience. 



Thomas H. Jackson, 

 Westchester, Pa. 



Mr, Jackson sends us a photo of 

 the two young Owls described in the 

 foregoing article but not having room 

 for the same in this issue, it will ap- 

 pear in the March issue. — Ed, 



Notes on the Wood Duck. 



My friend Dr. G. D. Shaver, of Ta- 

 coma. Wash,, owns a small lake near 

 here, part of which he has fenced in 

 as an enclosure for the study of dif- 

 ferent kinds of wild ducks. All are 

 in the best of health, but none are able 

 to fly. Among them is a male Wood 

 Duck, the mate to which was killed 

 a few years ago, but during the past 

 spring Dr, Shaver was interested to 

 see that a wild female of that species 

 would fly out of the enclosure nearly 

 every time he visited it. After a 

 while the visits of the female ceased, 

 but later in the summer she again 

 made her appearance, this time accom- 

 panied by four fully fledged young 

 ones. 



The above is the flrst breeding rec- 

 ord that I have had for the Wood 

 Duck in Western Washington in 

 many years. In fact they have be- 

 come so exceedingly rare as summer 

 residents that I think the inference is 

 fairly correct that the wild female 

 mated witli the captive male, 



J. H. Bowles, 

 Tacoma, Wash., Dec, 13, 1915. 



The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. 

 A. O. U. 443 Muscivera forficata. 

 To my estimation these birds are 

 the most active of the fllycatchers 

 and are plentiful here in the nesting 

 season. I will try to give an accurate 

 description of these birds as follows: 

 They measure from twelve to fourteen 

 and one-half inches. The male is gray 



