T44 



Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



Screech Owl (Megascops asio I y inne). — April 14, 1895, 

 Ralph Kellogg found eggs of this species in a cavity in a 

 large beech tree, about thirty feet from the ground. There 

 was no nest of any kind, but the eggs were deposited on a 

 shelf of the wood projecting into the cavity, which was large. 

 There were five white eggs, perfectly fresh when found. 

 April 28 he climbed to nest again; none of the eggs yet 

 hatched. Partly eaten body of hermit trush in the nest. 

 May 12 we went to nest and found four eggs hatched. The 

 young were strange looking objects, covered with white 

 down, their eyes not yet opened. We took three of the young 

 for preservation. May 16 I climbed to nest and took remain- 

 ing bird (and one egg, which was addled): Pin feathers had 

 sprouted a little, but birds had not increased much in size. 

 When the first ones were taken, May 12, the down was per- 

 fectly dry and fluffy. They had then been hatched thirty-six 

 or forty-eight hours, making the period of incubation about 

 twenty-six days. On the last visit to the nest there were two 

 European sparrows (Passer domesticus), evidently killed the 

 night before, and each with the entire head eaten off. At all 

 times the place was perfectly clean and free from odor. The 

 birds have been preserved in Mr. Kellogg's and my own col- 

 lections, and one in the collection of Cuvier Club (No. 1346), 

 May 4, 1898. Mr. F. B. Magill found a nest of M. asio in a hole 

 in a locust tree; it contained three young, freshly hatched. 

 His attention was attracted to the hole by seeing the body of 

 a robin which the owl was trying to pull into the hole, the 

 robin's tail and posterior part projecting. — Charles Dury. 



Food of Raptorial Birds. — The following notes have 

 accumulated in my note book since the publication of articks 

 on the subject in this Journal, April, 1885, and July, 1887. 



Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus (Gmelin)). — January 

 6, 1891 ; stomach contained skulls and other debris of several 

 mice. November 6, 1891; stomach contained four garter 

 snakes (Eutccnia sp.), two of which, small ones, were swallowed 

 entire. January 17, 1894; a male killed in Hamilton County, 

 Ohio, contained a teacup full (by measure) of the common 

 angle or earthworms. November 14, 1894; stomach con- 



3 



