Mat- IftftO.l 



Annum. 



.QOLOCrlST. 



Established, 



35 



Vol. XIV. 



Nesting of the Florida Burrowing 

 Owl. 



La^e in the fall of 18.S8 it was my good for- 

 tune \o find the owl towns in the great jirairie 

 which\stretches away northward from Lake 

 Okeechobee. Good fortune I say, tout it was 

 not an Ai'dinary every day bit of good luck. 

 Ten daysU had been tramping over the seem- 

 ingly eudlitss pi-airie before I found my first 

 owl burrow\ and it was over two weeks before 

 I secured thd first specimen of the bird, wliich 

 was about tlte only reward for my long and 

 fatiguing tnp\ 



Before goin^out I made diligent inquiries 

 among the " C(\w boys" regarding the habits 

 and locations oi^,, tliese interesting birds. All 

 had seen them, aiid could describe vividly their 

 looks, note, and akions, but all failed to locate 

 any of their towns\ This seemed to be due to 

 two causes: First, Wcause no one really cared 

 where the owls livAd, and second, wlien hunt- 

 ing or cattle-driving,\t]iere was too much else 

 to look after, to makb any accurate examina- 

 tion of the spot wheroWie birds were seen. So 

 it went out of mind at buce. But, after I met 

 with some of the SeminVles, tlie case was en- 

 tirely different. Nothing escapes their obser- 

 vation. They have namefe for even the small- 

 est and mo.st insignificant looking birds and 

 plants, and tlieir confldencis once gained, they 

 will tell you anything you Aant to know, pro- 

 vided, of course, you can undiirstand their vei-y 

 peculiar language. \ 



Tliey told me that "the owls had all goniV' 

 from the prairie." This I found almost litef 

 ally true. Town after town was visited, aijd 

 every burrow that showed any signs of having ^ 

 been recently inhabited was grubl)ed out hpm '^^ 

 end to end, until at last, after two week4 of 

 patient work, the coveted siiecimen was sien. 



Now the fun began in earnest. That iVird I ^' 

 was bound to have, but he seemed to knc/w the 

 exact range of a gun. Not only that, but he ^* 



Cnpyriglit, 1889, by ihe 



BOSTON, mass'- return again, the female carrying a long grass 

 blade. The male stayed close by her. They 

 went direct to the nest, thirty feet up in the 

 far out tip of a branch of black spruce. I saw 

 them go back and forth many times, the male 

 simply keeping his mate company. 



The first nest was placed against the trunk, 

 and upon a small branch which sprang from 

 the tree at a height of twenty feet. 



Tlie nest before me has a light platform of 

 fine, dead twigs of the spruce. Into this is 

 neatly woven a considerable quantity of Usnea, 

 then a sufficient lining of finely shredded, inner 

 bark of the bass wood, with a few long horse 

 hairs, and a number of deer's hairs. The rim 

 of the structure is Usnea, neatly matted and 

 twined, holding all together. Then the exterior 

 is flecked all over with fluffs of cottony 

 spider's webbing. Altogether it is an elegant 

 work of art. It measures three inches across 

 by one and a half inches in depth, thus being 

 quite shallow. The depression in this is very 

 shallow and small. It contained two fresh eggs 

 of the owner and one of the Cow Bird, and at 

 the foot of the tree were fragments of two 

 more eggs ^hich had been crowded from the 

 nest by this parasite. 



In the second nest the materials were simi- 

 lar to those in the first with the addition of 

 some soft grasses. It had been placed in the 

 fork of a horizontal branch near the tip and 

 five feet from tlie trunk, thirty feet from the 

 ground. Over this branch grew another, which 

 lay close upon it, concealing the nest from 

 every way. This set consisted of three eggs, 

 with one of the inevitable Cow Bird. The 

 fourth egg lay broken on the ground. The 

 eggs when fresh are rich, much resembling 

 tliose of the Chestnut-sided Warbler. 



With all the tugging and slipping I did in 

 drawing myself up by means of those drooping, 

 rope-like branches, and with all the jolting the 

 tree had in consequence, the bird remained 

 close, never uttering a protest. So gentle and 

 patient was she, I came well-nigh leaving her 

 1 possession of her treasures. 



J. W. Preston. 

 Baxter, Iowa. O <^ O Y T tt ti ,r 



^ ctu. XIV. Mar. 1889 p. 34-3, 



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