284 
STRIX NEBULOSA. 
times they take possession of the old nest of a cro"'> 
or a red-tailed hawk. In all these situations I 
found their eggs and young'. The eggs are of a globm* 
form, pure white, with a smooth shell, and are fr° 
four to six in number. So far as I have been able 11 
ascertain, they rear only one brood in a season. Tj 
young, like those of all other owls, are at first cover*’ 
with a downy substance, some of which is seen ii‘ te ” 
mixed with and protruding from the feathers, s 0 , j\ 
weeks after the bird is nearly fledged. They are fed by f ' 
parents for a long time, standing perched, and eruit* 1 ' 1 ^ 
a hissing noise in lieu of a call. This noise may j 
heard in a calm night, for fifty, or probably a hund® 1 
yards, and is by no means musical. To a person J ® 9 
in a swamp, it is, indeed, extremely dismal. 
“ The plumage of the barred owl differs very consid® 
ably, in respect to colour, in different individuals, 
so among the males. The males are also smaller tn*| 
the females, but less so than in some other spe®*^ 
During the severe winters of our Middle Districts, 
that remain there suffer very much ; but the gre * 1 
number, as in other species, remove to the Southed 
States. When kept in captivity, they prove excell ® 11 
mousers. j- 
“ The antipathy shewn to owls by every specie* 
day bird is extreme. They are followed and purs®® 
on all occasions; and although few of the day bi r ‘ s 
ever prove dangerous enemies, their conduct toW ar f0 
the owls is evidently productive of great annoyance 
them. When the barred owl is shot at and wound 1 . 1 ’ 
it snaps its bill sharply and frequently, raises *H \ 
feathers, looks towards the person in the most unco 11 ^ 
manner, hut, on the least chance of escape, moves 0 
in great leaps with considerable rapidity. . ,, t , 
“ The barred owl is very often exposed for sale in 1 j 
New Orleans market. The Creoles make gumbo 
it, and pronounce the flesh palatable.” 
