THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 



{Bubo vir^htianus.) 



A horned owl on silent wings, 



From out a cavernous place, 

 Speeds, like a bolt of darkness hurled 



Athwart the shining space 

 Above the vale from wood to wood, 



And leaves no trace behind, — 

 Like some dark fancy flung across 



A pure and peaceful mind ! 



— Maurice Thompson, "At Night. 



. The heavily timbered regions of east- 

 ern North America from Mexico north- 

 ward, are frequented by the Great 

 Horned Owl. In these forests, excepting 

 in the most northern portion of its range, 

 it builds its nest and rears its young in an 

 old hollow tree or in a deserted hawk's 

 or crow's nest. It prefers those forests 

 which contain old trees and which have 

 been undisturbed by the axe of the wood- 

 man. It becomes attached to the locality 

 of its choice, and will make the district 

 its home for years. It has, however, 

 been driven from many localities, where 

 it was once well known, by the felling of 

 the trees. It is not a social bird and even 

 resents the presence within the range of 

 its adoption, excepting during the 

 mating and breeding season, of other 

 individuals of its own kind. 



The Great Horned Owl is both injuri- 

 ous and beneficial to agricultural inter- 

 ests. In the eastern portion of its range 

 it very persistently attacks poultry and 

 game birds, while in the west it destroys 

 large numbers of rabbits and other 

 destructive rodents, thus becoming of 

 great assistance to the farmer in his 

 efforts to save his crops from the inroads 

 of these animals. The "bill of fare" of 

 this rapacious bird is very extensive. It 

 includes reptiles, fish, crustaceans and 

 insects, as well as all kinds of poultry 

 and many game birds. "Even hawks, 

 crows and other owls do not escape the 

 voracity of this tiger among birds, and 

 the larger hawks are among those 

 attacked and eaten." Indeed, it is ^o 

 voracious that in regions where its food 

 is plentiful it will frequently kill a large 



number of individuals, eating only the 

 heads of its victims. Dr. C. Hart Mer- 

 riam says : 'T have known one to kill 

 and decapitate three turkeys and several 

 hens in a single night, leaving the bodies 

 uninjured and fit for the table." It is 

 said that this Owl is alsO' an expert ratter. 

 One observer while effecting the capture 

 of some young Great Horned Owls, 

 noticed in the nest "several full-grown 

 Norway rats with their skulls opened and 

 the brains removed. On descending to 

 the ground he also noticed the bodies of 

 many rats around the tree, and out of 

 curiosity counted them, finding the bod- 

 ies of one hundred and thirteen rats, 

 most of them full grown. They all 

 appeared to simply have had their skulls 

 opened and their brains removed." Dr. 

 Dawson has well said: "Bubo horribilis 

 should have been the name of this feath- 

 ered demon of the woods, this grizzly of 

 the midnight air." 



While the Great Horned Owl hunts 

 only in the night or in the darkness of 

 densely clouded days, it is favored with a 

 strong vision even in the most intense 

 light. It readily sees an intruder on its 

 domain much sooner than it itself is dis- 

 covered. It is a difficult bird to st^lk, 

 even in the strongest light. Dr. Fisher 

 thinks it quite probable that during the 

 breeding season it hunts both day and 

 night indifferently. In his "Birds of the 

 Northwest," Dr. Coues tells of two pet 

 Owls which watched two white cranes 

 circling high in the air in the direct rays 

 of the sun, while he was quite blinded by 

 the intense light. 



The Great Horned Owl is tamed onlv 



213 



