260 
GREAT HORNED OWL. 
growth of gigantic timber ; and here, as soon as evening draws 
on, and mankind retire to rest, he sends forth such sounds a3 
mentioned, behind which there is a large space of pure snow white, that 
is bounded on the breast by blotches of liver brown, situated on the tips of the 
feathers. The belly and long plumage of the flanks are white, crossed by 
narrow, regular bars of dark brown. The vent-feathers, under tail-coverts, 
thighs, and feet, are pure white. The linings of the wings are also white, with 
the exception of a brown spot on the tips of the greater interior coverts.” 
Audubon has the following remarks on their incubation, which are somewhat 
at variance with Wilson. It would also appear that this bird makes love 
during the day : — 
“ Early in February, the Great Horned Owls are seen to pair. The 
curious evolutions of the male in the air, or his motions when he has alighted 
near his beloved, it is impossible to describe. His bowings, and the snappings 
of his bill, are extremely ludicrous ; and no sooner is the female assured that 
the attentions paid her by the beau are the result of a sincere affection, 
than she joins in the motions of her future mate. 
“ The nest, which is very bulky, is usually fixed on a large horizontal branch, 
not far from the trunk of the tree. It is composed externally of crooked 
sticks, and is lined with coarse grasses and some feathers. The whole 
measures nearly three feet in diameter. The eggs, which are from three to 
six, are almost globular in form, and of a dull white colour. The male 
assists the female in sitting on the eggs. Only one brood is raised in 
the season. The young remain in the nest until fully fledged, and after- 
wards follow the parents for a considerable time, uttering a mournful sound, 
to induce them to supply them with food. They acquire the full plumage of 
the old birds in the first spring, and until then are considerably lighter, with 
more dull buff in their tints. I have found nests belonging to this species in 
large hollows of decayed trees, and twice in the fissures of rocks. In all these 
cases, little preparation had been made previous to the laying of the eggs, as I 
found only a few grasses and feathers placed under them. 
“ The Great Horned Owl lives retired, and it is seldom that more than one 
is found in the neighbourhood of a farm, after the breeding season ; but as 
almost every detached farm is visited by one of these dangerous and powerful 
marauders, it may be said to be abundant. The havock which it commits 
is very great. I have known a plantation almost stripped of the whole of the 
poultry raised upon it during spring, by one of these daring foes of the feathered 
race, in the course of the ensuing winter. 
“ This species is very powerful, and equally spirited. It attacks Wild 
Turkeys when half-grown, and often masters them. Mallards, Guinea-fowls, 
and common barn fowls, prove an easy prey ; and on seizing them, it carries 
them off in its talons from the farm yards to the interior of the woods. When 
wounded, it exhibits a revengeful tenacity of spirit, scarcely surpassed by any 
