Fat on Animals during Winter. \ 2 1 



and red-tailed buzzards are common in suitable places, and 

 also breed.* 



The Little Kestrel (F. sparverius) lays its eggs in 

 hollows in rotting trees ; and I am assured, on the authority 

 of Mr. Boardman, that when such is the case, it may, as 

 with the woodpeckers, noticed elsewhere, be made to lay an 

 indefinite number of eggs by leaving one in the nest. 



The OWLS, like nearly all the resident animals, get fattest 

 in winter ; however, as might be expected, this would be 

 almost if not altogether without a single exception, still as 

 regards woodpeckers, I did not observe any difference be- 

 tween their summer and winter conditions ; for the reason, I 

 suppose, that they return in winter to the far less rigorous 

 temperatures of the depths of the forests. It is a noticeable 

 circumstance, moreover, that in the case of the brown Vir- 

 ginian owl, its plumage is paler at this season, which I suspect 

 is- the Atlantic variety mentioned by Baird.f Some indi- 

 viduals procured by me in mid-winter had no less than a 

 quarter of an inch of fat all over the surface of the skin. Both 

 this species and the snowy owl, which however departs in 

 May, are deadly enemies to the hare, and I was assured that 

 the barred species, although smaller, does capture the latter 

 by inserting its very acute and curved talons into the eyes. 

 The civilization of the backwoods has already allured many 

 owls to the settler's barn. For instance, the pretty little saw 

 whet often takes up a permanent residence in the hay-shed, 

 to the extent, in some instances, of breeding there. I saw a 

 great Virginian horned species taken out of an otter trap 

 baited with a duck ; but both this and the large snowy 

 owl prefer hares, inasmuch as when snow is deep, and the 

 rodents lie hidden under it, one or other may be seen intently 

 scanning the openings formed when the lower branches 

 of coniferous trees get borne to the ground by the weight of 



* I noticed a white or albino specimen of the last in Mr. Boardman's 

 collection. f Pacific Railway Report. 



