232
Lake Umbagog.
Whale-back Cove.
Sept. 7
(No 6)
for and probably caught some flying insect
no doubt a large beetle (I have found beetles in
the stomachs of Great Horned Owls). It must
have used its mouth alone for the feet were
not extended or even shown during the flight. During
ordinary level flight they were often visible and
sometimes hung down nearly to the full length of the
legs when the bird started from its perch but it
always drew them up out of sight among the feathers
before [delete]the time[/delete] it had gone many rods. The wings
were usually flapped steadily & continuously for the
first thirty or forty yards after which the bird
sailed the remainder of the way to its chosen
perch. The husky cry was often given on
wing especially [delete]if[/delete] when one of the Owls was approaching
a stub on which its companion was sitting.
It is evident that this cry is used chiefly if
not wholly as a call note and I fancy that
whenever it is heard it is safe to assume that
there are two or more birds hunting in company.
On the only previous occasions when I have
seen the bird utter it - at the Lake House many
years ago and near the mouth of Cambridge
River last October - it was accompanied
by a companion.
[margin]Great Horned
Owls[/margin]
  Altogether we had the Owls at Whale-back Creek
under close observation for fully half-an-hour.
They worked around us in a half circle
following the line of stubs but frequently turned
back and went over the same ground. Most of
the time they were within 100 to 150 yards.
We could see them very distinctly against the sky.