GREAT HORNED OWL. 175 



try yard, as well as the destruction of many game and song birds would 

 seem to call for the total suppression of the species. Again, when en- 

 gaged chiefly in the capture of injurious rodents, which threaten the 

 very existence of the crops, it is the farmers most valuable ally and 

 consequently should be most carefully protected. 



The food of this species is of great variety ; birds and mammals as 

 well as reptiles, fish, crustaceans, and insects contribute to its fare. 

 Among the birds most often taken may be mentioned all kinds of poul- 

 try (includiDg half-grown turkeys), grouse, quail, doves, and wild 

 ducks. Even hawks, crows, and other owls do not escape the voracity 

 of this tiger among birds, and the large hawks are among those at- 

 tacked and eaten. 



Of all the birds of prey, with the exception possibly of the Goshawk 

 and Cooper's Hawk, the Great Horned Owl is the most destructive 

 to poultry. All kinds of poultry seem to be taken, though when 

 Guinea fowls and turkeys are obtainable it shows a preference for these. 

 In sections of the country where it is common the inhabitants often 

 complain bitterly of its ravages, An examination of the table at the 

 end of this article will show that a large proportion of the specimens 

 contained the remains of poultry. 



The following from Dr. B. H. Warren's report on the birds of Penn- 

 sylvania (p. 118) shows a still larger proportion of this class of food : 

 u My own records of sixteen examinations of Great Horned Owls, which, 

 with one exception, were taken during the winter months, revealed in 

 eleven individuals only remains of poultry; two others, portions of 

 rabbits, and of the three remaining birds of this series it was found 

 that one had taken two rnice; another showed small amount of hair, 

 apparently that of an opossum. The sixteenth and last bird contained 

 a mouse and parts of beetles." 



The following, from the pen of Dr. P. E. Hoy, shows how destruc- 

 tive a single Owl may be : " The specimen in the collection of the acad- 

 emy was known to carry off from one farm, in the space of a month, not 

 less than twenty-seven individuals of various kinds of poultry before 

 it was shot." (Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. vi, 1853, p. 307.) 



Dr. 0. Hart Merriam gives the following account of its depreda- 

 tions: " Indeed I have known one to kill and decapitate three tur- 

 keys and several hens in a single night, leaving the bodies uninjured 

 and fit for the table." (Birds of Connecticut, 1877, p. 97.) This prefer- 

 ence for the heads of their victims is more or less common to all birds 

 of prey, as is shown by the universal habit of eating this part first. 



In portions of the country where game birds are common the depre- 

 dations among them are nearly, if not fully, as great as in the poultry 

 yard. Buffed Grouse particularly seem to suffer, probably on account 

 of their conspicuous size. Mr. E. E. Seton found two Ruffed Grouse 

 and a hare in the nest of this species in Manitoba. (Auk, vol. n, 1885, 

 p. 21.) A number of stomachs recorded in our table contained the re- 



