Nesting of the Barred and Great 
Horned Owls. 
A little more than a half mile west from 
my residence is a piece of woods where for a 
number of years past, in the early twilight and 
especially before a storm, I have heard the 
Barred Owls ( Strix nebulosa) hoot; and deter- 
mining if possible to find their nest, I procured 
the services of my old friend, an expert climber, 
William C. Brownell, and early on the morn- 
ing of March 19, 1888, we sallied forth, and 
on reaching the woods we armed ourselves 
with stout clubs, and separated a few rods 
apart. 
We commenced pounding on all the old trees 
and stubs that had a hole in them, when pres- 
ently I heard my old friend yell: “I have found 
her! ” Making my way over logs and brush as 
fast as possible, I found him gazing intently at 
a hole in the side of a large basswood tree, 
about fifty feet from the ground. He soon in- 
formed me that he had scared a Barred Owl 
from that hole, and strapping on his climbers 
he ascended the tree and announced that there 
was one fresh egg. We left the nest and re- 
turned again to the tree on March 24tli, when 
we collected a full set of three fresh eggs. We 
also collected a second set of two eggs from 
the same nest on April 17, 1888. They 
were slightly incubated. I again examined 
the nest May 6th, and 8tli, and found her sit- 
ting on the empty nest like an old sitting hen, 
and when disturbed she took her place again 
on the nest in about twenty minutes after being 
scared off. She is the only wild bird I ever 
saw that would sit on an empty nest after hav- 
ing her eggs taken; and it will be as well here 
to state that Mr. Elmer Durfee of the adjoin- 
ing township of Livonia, collected a set of four 
Barred Owls’ eggs March 14, 1888, from a j 
hole in a basswood tree about thirty-five feet 
from the ground, and later in the spring he 
collected a second set of three eggs from the 
same nest, and shortly afterwards a red 
squirrel took possession of the tree, which 
caused the owls to forsake their home. 
O.&O, XIV. Apr. 1889 p.54 * 
Nesting of the Barred Owl at Ral- 
eigh, N.C. 
On April 21, 1887, we took our first “ set” of 
Barred Owl (Strix nebulosa) consisting of a 
good-sized young one and no eggs. We also 
killed the “papa” of said young one but Mrs. 
B. O. escaped us. This young one we kept 
for over two months, but on June 28tli we con- 
cluded to kill him, and on going to do so we 
found him dead on the floor. Perhaps four- 
teen large house rats we had given him to 
feast on was the cause. Anyhow he died in a 
mysterious way, and was made into a skin, but 
not before he had become a terror to us all. 
Although only the male bird was killed, yet 
the stob in which “George” was raised has 
never been used since. Next year on April 9tli, 
we took a set of two addled eggs from a hollow 
in the top of an old stob twenty feet high and 
killed the female bird. This year, though not 
much expecting anything on account of the 
death of the female, we got a set of two nearly 
fresh eggs on March 18tli from the same stob, 
but did not molest the old bird. My brother 
who went up to the nest said there were only 
the two eggs there. On April 6th, however, he 
again went to the stob and flushed the owl. 
On going up to the nest he found one egg 
firmly imbedded in the chips and dirt at the 
bottom of the hollow. He left the egg for 
three days but no more were laid so he took it 
on April 9tli. The egg on blowing proved to 
be addled but not to any extent, and it has 
always been a question with us as to whether 
it might have belonged to the first set of two 
or not. C. S. Brimley. 
Raleigh, N. C. 
o AO. XIV. Sept. 1889 p.132 
A Philadelphia Collection of Eg-gs of 
the Raptores. 
Strix nebulosa. Barred Owl. 
three, thirteen sets of two 
three sets, fifty-six eggs. 
Ten sets of 
Total : twenty- 
O.&o. XIV. Mar. 1889 p.45 
Habits of the Barred Owl. — The first paragraph of the interesting ar- 
ticle by Mr. Bolles in the April number of ‘The Auk,’ would leave the gen- 
eral reader underthe impression that the Barred Owl (Syrnium ncbulosum ) 
defends its nest and young by attacking the intruder. My own experience 
would lead me to conclude that it is a very timid bird. I have collected 
many sets of their eggs, and have frequently climbed to the nests to ex- 
amine their young, and in no case have I ever been attacked by the parent 
birds. They usually fly away at the approach of the collector, and re- 
main away until he leaves the vicinity. If the nest contains young, they 
make demonstrations of cries and snapping of bills from the safe shelter 
of a neighboring tree. I have known them to fly toward me snapping 
their beaks, until within a few yards, but they were careful not to come 
very near. I have never been atttacked or seen other persons attacked by 
any species of Owl in defense of its nest, except when the Owls were 
in confinement. I once experienced great difficulty in getting a set of 
eggs from a cage containing three Great Horned Owls.— D. E. Lantz, 
Manhattan , Kansas. Auk, VII. July, 1890, P. Z&f* 
