THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 



385 



or rabbit, Bobwhite, Jay or Chanticleer, who dares to stir where this monster 

 is a-wing. When captured in a trap, as he often is by aggrieved poultry 

 fanciers, the ruffling of the feathers, the alternate hissing and fierce snapping 

 of the mandibles, and the greenish yellow light which comes flashing from 

 the great saucer eyes, all give fair warning of what one may expect from the 

 free foot once it gets a chance to close upon a victim. 



Wheaton wrote "common resident," but in most parts of the state this 

 unwelcome bird neighbor is greatly reduced in numbers, and in some altogether 

 wanting, except it be casually in winter. The only one seen recently in 

 Ivorain County was found March 9th, 1899. In the heart of a deep wood a 

 mob of twenty Crows bayed the quarry like a pack of hounds, while two 

 Red-shouldered Hawks, diving and screaming overhead, gave character to the 

 shifting assemblage. The Owl was visibly annoyed by these attentions, but 

 was holding his own until the humans appeared, when he fled incontinently 

 at a hundred yards. It re- 

 quired a chase of two miles, 

 during which only the 

 Hawks, accompanied us, to 

 overhaul and turn the grim 

 death's-head so as to get a 

 square sight of him. 



The notes of the 

 Horned Owl are much less 

 frequently heard than for- 

 merly, and this is not only 

 because of greater scarcity, 

 but because the birds have 

 learned caution. They are 

 known to nest in places 

 where a single full-voiced 

 hoot would draw the fire of 

 the country-side. The mat- 

 ing song (save the mark!) is a succession of resonant bellowings in a 

 single key, — Whoa, whoo, hoo-hoo, who — quite variable as tO' length and 

 form. Besides this the bird occasionally indulges in a sepulchral laughter, 

 hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, which arouses anything but mirthful 

 , feelings in the listener. Nothing short of awful is the nocturnal serenade 

 to which these big owls sometimes treat the camper-out. "Cat-call" is a 

 faint word to express this midnight terror — "panther screech" were fitter. 

 Once in the city of Tacoma the writer was aroused from a sound slumber 

 by a great commotion upon an adjoining roof, which the chamber overlooked. 

 After the first shock of somnolent fright was over, it seemed as if a dozen 



-Vy|5J**"-:r 





Taken in Colorado. Photo by B. R. Warren, 



YOUNG HORNED OWL.' 



The form is Bubo virginianus subarcticus. 



1 Courtesy of the Wilson Bulletin. 



