125 
May, 1913 SOME NOTES ON THE NESTING OF THE SHORT-EARED OWL 
from the nest, also starting to stray away. It was quite apparent that each 
young owl, when it reached the approximate age of two weeks, strayed ofif ny 
itself into the brush surrounding the nest, long before it was able to fly. Each 
bird seems to be in a place by himself, and wanders farther and farther away from 
the nest each day. I tried the experiment of putting one or two of the young 
birds that I found back in the nest again, but each time they soon left and could 
not be found without considerable search the next morning. At first the young 
were fairly close to the nest, but later were at a considerable distance. On June 
28 I found no. 2 about 100 yards away, and on July i, I found no. 6 at a full 150 
yards. The parents evidently cared for all the young, no matter where they 
wandered, as I often found food or ejected pellets near them; and the parents 
were usually ready to show me the location of a young bird, by feigning wounded 
when I approached. 
I attempted many times to get photographs of the young birds but did not 
succeed very well. The young when approached had a habit of flattening them- 
selves down into the grass in a way that I could not make show up well in a 
picture. I could not make them perch on the bushes at all, and the best pictures 
I got were taken of owl no. 2 perching on my hand. 
On July I, I found owl no. 6. He was the farthest developed of any of the 
brood that I had examined. He was quite pugnacious, snapping at my fingers 
when I attempted to pick him up, and clicking his bill. When I extended my 
foot toward him, he perched on the toe of my shoe and picked savagely at my 
shoe lace. I lifted him up into the air in this way, when he spread his wings to 
keep his balance and tried to climb up to my knee. Once or twice he screamed, 
a long, hoarse, terrifying scream, a note I had not heard before from either 
young or parents. 
I heard this scream once again on July 22, at a point fully three hundred 
yards from the nest site. I supposed that it was one of the young owls again, 
but I searched the grass in vain for him. One of the parents was near, sitting on 
a fence post, but not feigning wounded as before, and hence not helping me to 
find the young bird. This point was across an irrigating ditch from the nest- 
ing site, so it is quite probable that the young bird could fly a little by that time. 
SYNOPSIS OF THE RECENT CAMPAIGN FOR THE CONSERVATION 
OF WILD life IN CALIFORNIA 
By W. P. TAYLOR 
O NE of the most hopeful signs of our generation is the fact that we as a 
people are growing in a knowledge of our deficiencies. 
This is particularly true in the broad domain covered by the phrase 
“conservation of natural resources,” and even more strikingly apparent in that 
subdivision of the larger subject with which those interested in our native birds 
and mammals are most intimately concerned. 
Sensible of the fact that the Cooper Ornithological Club is in a position 
peculiarly favorable to its taking an active part in work for conservation, the 
