with the greatest difficulty, and in con- 

 finement it is sullen and inclined to 

 resent any attention. Affection is not an 

 element of its character, while its 

 strength and courage is remarkable. The 

 male cares for its mate only during the 

 breeding season, and in fact is afraid of 

 her at other times, for she is much the 

 larger of the two. 



Regarding the wooing of the male, 

 Major Bendire quotes the observations 

 of Professor Lynds Jones, who says : 'T 

 once had the good fortune to steal 

 unnoticed upon a pair of these birds in 

 their love making. The ceremony had 

 evidently been in progress some time. 

 When discovered, the male was carefully 

 approaching the female, which stood on 

 a branch, and she half turned away, like 

 a timid girl. He then fondly stroked 

 his mate with his bill, bowed solemnly, 

 touched or rubbed her bill with his, 

 bowed again, sidled into a new position 

 from time to time, and continued his car- 

 esses. All these attentions were appar- 



ently bashfully received by the female. 

 Soon thereafter the pair flew slowly 

 away." 



The wooing season begins in mid-win- 

 ter and at this time the deep bass notes 

 of the male are frequently uttered. These 

 deep-toned notes are the well known 

 sounds whoo, hoo-hoo-hoo, whooo, 

 W'hoO'O, while the female answers in two 

 or three syllables. At other times, the 

 Owl utters a single but forcible hoot. It 

 also has another though rarer call which 

 is a loud and emphatic scream that can- 

 not be expressed in syllables. Mr. Chap- 

 man speaks of this call as "one of the 

 most blood-curdling sounds I have ever 

 heard in the woods." Major Bendire 

 says : "These Owls are often attracted 

 by the camp-fires of hunting parties, and 

 their flight is so easy and silent that the 

 first notice one has of their presence is 

 their pertinent query 'who-who-cooks for 

 you,' from a tree top, perhaps directly 

 overhead, undoubtedly uttered as a pro- 

 test against the invasion of their own 

 favorite huntings grounds." 



A CLEVER MASON. 



[Afithophora neoviexicana.) 



The hard clay bank of a river is the 

 place usually chosen by the Anthophoras 

 as a nesting site, and the village once 

 established continues year after year ; the 

 young bees clean out the old nests and 

 make them fine with new plaster, but 

 since there are not homes for all I have 

 often wondered whether it is the weaker 

 bees that are obliged to build for them- 

 selves or whether the old homes are left 

 for the lazier members of the community 

 while the ambitious ones go tO' work on 

 new homes in the village or even move 

 quite away and become founders of new 

 colonies. 



One warm day in June I found a bee 

 just beginning her work and in spite of 

 the hot sun I watched her the greater 

 part of the day. At first she held fast 

 to the bank with her hind legs and dug 

 with her front legs and stout jaws scat- 



tering the earth in a dust shower about 

 her. Her position for a time seemed very 

 insecure and after digging for a little 

 while she would fly about with a curious 

 buzzing which sounded much like a com- 

 plaint, but very soon she had dug enough 

 to give her a firm resting place, and then 

 building began in earnest. The earth 

 removed was rolled in a ball and with a 

 rapid motion of the abdomen was built 

 into the sides of a circular tower which 

 when finished was about an inch high 

 and was used as an entrance to the nest. 

 Only three or four loads of earth were 

 removed when the little mason left work. 

 I wondered if she took a sip of nectar 

 between stints, but as she always flew 

 straight to the river, I concluded that 

 she was getting water to use in the prep- 

 aration of plaster. The earth removed 

 from the tunnel was thoroughly moist- 



