shell is white, when clean, with a granular surface moderately polished. They are spheroidal in shape 
and measure from 2.17 to 2.30 inches in long-diameter by 1.80 to 2.10 in short-diameter. The common 
size is about 1.95 x 2.20. Three eggs from three sets measure 1.95 x 2.20, 1.80 x 2.18, and 1.82 x 2.17. 
DIFFERENTIAL POINTS: 
See page 216. 
REMARKS : 
The three eggs illustrated Fig. 4, Plate LIX, represent the common shapes and sizes. 
The Great Horned Owl is the earliest of all our birds to begin the cares of housekeeping. Often 
some weeks before winter has fairly taken its departure, a home has been built or rented, and the mother- 
bird is busily engaged in the wearisome task of incubation. As early as the 15th of February I have 
found this Owl sitting on a complement of eggs, when the weather was so cold that a single hour’s neg- 
lect would most certainly have resulted in their destruction by freezing. 
On the 26th of March, 1881, the ground was covered Avith several inches of snow and the tempera- 
ture for some days had been below freezing. Upon the day mentioned I visited a nest and found 
the female sitting surrounded by snow. She suffered me to approach within a few feet before she took 
flight. I then discovered two owlets about the size of goslings two days old, and covered with down of 
much the same color. I took them home and found them the most ungainly youngsters I had yet 
examined. They were strong with their feet and could make one cry out with pain when the hand 
was grabbed in their talons, yet they were too feeble to walk and rolled over with every attempt. 
When undisturbed they made a curious noise; each one of them alone made sounds which resembled a 
whole flock of little chicks huddled under their mother’s wings, and when put under a hat, no one could 
guess from the peepings the number of peepers. The weather seems to have but little influence over the 
nesting of this owl. When the middle of February arrives, whatever the temperature may be, oviposition 
becomes the all-absorbing topic. Just the proportion of birds which build in cavities to those which nest 
among the branches it is difficult to estimate. I am inclined to believe they are about equally divided. 
Of the birds which nest in the latter position, but few construct their own homes. The owl can become 
a pretty fair architect, constructing a nest as well as the Red-tailed Hawk, but it is generally too care- 
less or lazy to try its skill in this direction. It prefers to take advantage of the labor of some other bird, 
generally the Red-tailed or Red-shouldered Hawk, and, laying its eggs earlier than these birds, it has the 
privilege of choosing from all nests of the previous year. I have in mind one nest in a very large willow- 
tree, three miles below, Oircleville which has been occupied during the past six years, two seasons by the 
Great Horned Owl, and three by the Red-tailed Hawk, one year it was tenantless. 
When a pair of Owls take possession of an old nest, it is renovated only by the addition of a new 
lining. The mother-bird sits very closely during the three weeks of incubation, and the male bird is 
very attentive to her and probably brings her food, and, at times, relieves her at her task. If the eggs 
are not yet hatched the female will often slip from her nest at the approach of man before he is within 
gunshot, but if the young have made their appearance she will boldly defend them. 
The Owl bolts its food and throws out of its stomach whatever in the way of hair, feathers, and bones 
can not be digested. Their capacity at swallowing is considerable. I have over and over again fed to my 
pet Owls large Norway rats, which they would swallow head foremost without breaking the skin, and, 
hours afterward, the tails of the rats could be seen dangling from the mouths of the satiated and now 
sleepy Owls. As digestion proceeded the tails would slip down and finally disappear. In due time the 
remains of the rat which could not be assimilated would be vomited up in the form of a ball, and the 
Owl be again ready for another feast. 
218 
