262 GREA T HORNED OWL. 



ever, is in the dark solitudes of deep swamps, covered with a 

 growth of gigantic timber ; and here, as soon as evening draws 



wood brown is mostly replaced by white. The tail-feathers are white, 

 deeply tinged on their inner webs by wood brown, and crossed by six 

 bars of umber brown, about half as broad as the intervening spaces ; 

 their tips are white. 



" Under surface. — Chin, white. Throat, crossed by the band above 

 mentioned, behind which there is a large space of pure snow white, that 

 is bounded on the breast by blotches of liver brown, situated on the 

 tips of the feathers. The belly and long plumage of the flanks are 

 white, crossed by narrow, regular bars of dark brown The vent- 

 feathers, under tail-coverts, thighs, and feet, are pure white. The 

 linings of the wings are also white, with the exception of a brown spot 

 on the tips of the greater interior coverts." 



Audubon has the following remarks on their incubation, which are 

 somewhat at variance with Wilson. It would also appear that this bird 

 makes love during the day : — 



" Early in February, the great horned owls are seen to pair. The 

 curious evolutions of the male in the air, or his motions when he has 

 alighted near his beloved, it is impossible to describe. His bowings, 

 and the snappings of his bill, are extremely ludicrous ; and no sooner 

 is the female assured that the attentions paid her by the beau are the 

 result of a sincere affection, than she joins in the motions of her future 

 mate. 



" The nest, which is very bulky, is usually fixed on a large horizontal 

 branch, not far from the trunk of the tree. It is composed externally 

 of crooked sticks, and is lined with coarse grasses and some feathers. 

 The whole measures nearly three feet in diameter. The eggs, which 

 are from three to six, are almost globular in form, and of a dull white 

 colour. The male assists the female in sitting on the eggs. Only one 

 brood is raised in the season. The young remain in the nest until fully 

 fledged, and afterwards follow the parents for a considerable time, utter- 

 ing a mournful sound, to induce them to supply them with food. 

 They acquire the full plumage of the old birds in the first spring, and 

 until then are considerably lighter, with more dull buff in their tints. 

 I have found nests belonging to this species in large hollows of decayed 

 trees, and twice in the fissures of rocks. In all these cases, little pre- 

 paration had been made previous to the laying of the eggs, as I found 

 only a few grasses and feathers placed under them. 



" The great horned owl lives retired, and it is seldom that more than 

 one is found in the neighbourhood of a farm after the breeding season ; 

 but as almost every detached farm is visited by one of these dangerous 

 and powerful marauders, it may be said to be abundant. The havoc 



