Birds. 53 



two seasons, for in 1885 it contained a nest of flying squirrels. 

 The entrance was round, and about two inches in diameter, 

 just such a size that the head of the bird exactly filled it, so 

 that, as she looked out, she presented very much the appear- 

 ance of an owl's face fastened against the side of the stub. 

 The hole wss a fobt deep, and eight inches in diameter at the 

 bottom. There was no nest except small chips of rotten wood 

 and a few owl's feathers. The bird would not leave the nesf 

 till she was threatened with the hand several times, and then 

 "flew into the nearest tree (a small hemlock), and sat there 

 without moving during all the time that her visitors remained 

 (about three-quarters of an hour), and no sooner was the stub 

 left than she flew back again. The eggs were pure white, 

 nearly the same size at each end, and averaged 1.16x0.97 

 inches. They were variously advanced in incubation, though 

 of course none were very far along. The consistency of the 

 albumen was particularly viscid, and the yolk small and light 

 col jred. 



The second nest was found near Holland Patent, April 21st, 

 i8(S6, in a woodpecker's hole in a stub, forty feet from the 

 ground, contained five young, and one tgg just on the point 

 of hatching. 



The third nest was found the same day about half a mile 

 below Trenton Falls, near the West Canada Creek, in an old 

 woodpecker's hole in a stub, twenty feet from the ground. 

 The hole was nine inches deep and nine inches across inside, 

 lined with a few feathers, birch leaves and chips. It contained 

 seven eggs, nearly hatched, measuring .97x1.18, .98x1.18, 

 .98 x 1.24, .98 X 1.25, .99 X 1.21, i.oox 1.23. The bird was taken 

 alive from the nest. 



The fourth nest was found April 30th, 1886, about one mile 

 north of Gang Mills, Herkimer County, in a deserted wood- 

 pecker's hole in a stub, fifty feet from the ground, in a swamp, 

 and contained seven eggs on the point of hatching. 



116 Otus asio asio. 



SCREECH OWL. 



A common resident. Breeds. 



