OUR HOME BIRDS. 
251 
of the seashore, among woods and swamps of pine 
trees. If it is disturbed it will fly a short way, and 
then take shelter again from the light. At the ap- 
proach of twilight it is all activity, being a noted 
and dexterous mouser. It builds its nest in pines, 
generally halfway up the tree, and lays two white 
eggs. 
“The great horned owl (Frontispiece, Fig. 1) is 
also called the eagle owl, and is quite a formidable 
object, being no less than twenty inches in length, 
with horns three inches long that consist of twelve 
or fourteen feathers. He is of the usual brown color, 
marked with transverse bars mixed with white, with 
a rounded tail extending about an inch beyond the 
tips of the wings. 
“ Wilson says : 4 This noted and formidable owl is 
found in almost every quarter of the United States. 
His favorite residence, however, is in the dark soli- 
tudes of deep swamps covered with a growth of gi- 
gantic timber ; and here, as soon as evening draws on 
and mankind retire to rest, he sends forth such sounds 
as seem scarcely to belong to this world, startling the 
solitary pilgrim as he slumbers by his forest-fire and 
44 making night hideous.” Along the mountainous 
shores of the Ohio and amidst the deep forests of 
Indiana alone and reposing in the woods, this ghostly 
watchman has frequently warned me of the approach 
