104: BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



Some few years ago Messrs. William Ingram and Joseph Price, of 

 West Chester, Pa., discovered a nest and young of the Fish Hawk 

 along the Brandywine creek, in the vicinity of Chadd's Ford, Dela- 

 ware county. The eggs, two or three in number, measure about 2 

 inches in length by If inches in width; they are yellowish-white, 

 thickly covered with large blotches of different shades of brown. u I 

 have observed many of these birds, at the approach of winter, sailing 

 over the lakes near the Mississippi, where they feed on the fish which 

 the Wood Ibis kills, the Hawks themselves being unable to discover 

 them whilst alive in the muddy water with which these lakes are filled. 

 There the Ibises wade among the water in immense flocks, and so 

 trample the bottom as to convert the lakes into filthy puddles, in 

 which the fishes are unable to respire with ease. They rise to the 

 surface and are instantly killed by the Ibises. The whole surface is 

 sometimes covered in this manner with dead fish, so that not only are 

 the Ibises plentifully supplied, but Vultures, Eagles and Fish Hawks 

 come to participate in the spoil. Except in such places, and on such 

 occasions, I have not observed the Fish Hawk to eat of any other prey 

 than that which it had procured by plunging headlong into the water 

 after it." Audubon. Although it is asserted by certain reputable 

 writers that during the breeding season these birds subsist in part on 

 reptiles and batrachians, I believe that such food is only taken when 

 they are unable to secure fish, which they are so expert in catching. 

 In the stomachs of eighteen Fish Hawks, killed in Pennsylvania, New 

 Jersey, Maryland and Florida. I found only the remains of fishes. 



SUBORDER STEIGES. OWLS.* 

 FAMILY STRIGID^l. BAKN OWLS. 



GENUS STRIX. LINNAEUS. 

 365. Strix pratincola. (BONAP.) 



American Barn Owl. 



DESCRIPTION. (Plate 17.) 



Length of female about 16 inches ; extent of wings about 43 inches. Male rather 

 smaller. 



Hab. Warmer parts of North America, from the Middle States, Ohio Valley and 

 California, southward through Mexico. 



The Barn Owl has of late years become rather rare in various sec- 



* To distinguish an Owl from a Hawk remember the Owl's eyes are situated in the front of the 

 head and looks forward, while the Hawk's eyes are directed to either side. The extremely soft 

 and downy plumage of these birds is such that their fiigDt is almost noiseless. During the day- 

 light we usually find them concealed in hollow trees, or dense foliage, preferably cedar thickets. 

 While it is generally an accepted fact that Owls are nocturnal in their habits it is not true that 

 they tire exclusively so. The Short-eared and Barred Owls are of a decidedly diurnal nature : 

 and in cloudy weather or in early twilight it is not unusual to see the Great Horned Owl sally 



