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Volume XIII 
January-February, 1911 
Number 1 
A HISTORY OK CERTAIN GREAT HORNED OWLS 
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CHARLIES R. KlvVlvS 
WITH THIRTKEX PHOTOS 
M y experiences with Great Horned Owls, esiieciall^- with a pair wliich has 
been under niy oiiservation for several years, have often suggested a con- 
trast and comparison with Mr. Finley’s work on the California Condor. 
In several respects our subjects and experiences show a certain broad resemblance. 
Roth birds belong to the family of birds of prey, the one being the largest of the 
North American vultures, the other the greatest of all the owls. The Condor 
has passed into legend and literature as the largest bird of flight and the most grace- 
ful when on the wing; the Great Horned Owl occipiies a place no less important in 
legend and literature as the symbol of brooding wisdom and solemn mystery. In 
both our studies too the rare privilege was enjoyed of extending our observations 
over the whole home period of the bird’s life, from the eggs in the nest to the 
young ready for their first excursion into the outside world. 
In most respects, however, our stories are as much in contrast as they could 
well be. The Condors had their home in one of the wildest and most inaccessible 
of Californian mountain regions; from their ne.st rim the owls could look out ujion 
five farm hou.ses, with their numerous outbuildings, and one school-hou.se, all 
within a radius of five hundred yards and all neighbors of other homesteads and 
school-houses .set down in the very peaceful and non-mountainous state of Iowa. 
The Condors, in their wild environment, were tame and well-disposed from the first 
and grew constanth' more docile as the study of their home life proceeded, jiroving 
to be, apparently, the gentle.st of all the raptorial birds; the Great Horned Owls, 
with surroundings that would .seem to teach peace, had bad disiiositions to begin 
wnth and these constantly grew worse until, after six we?;k.s of sus]iense and with 
the longest of our claw marks still unhealed, my assi.stant and I felt a sense of relief 
when the young owls finally took to the tree tops, leaving us with fairlx' whole physi- 
