Brewster on the Breeding of the Acadian Owl. 143 
4. Loxia curvirostra americana, Coues. Common Crossbill. 
Scattered irregularly all through the pine woods. Breeds at 7500 fe- 
5. Xanthocephalus icterocephalus, Bd. Y e 1. 1. o w- 1 r 1; B l a c k - 
bird. — “At 9300 feS 
6. Corvus americahqB, Aud. Common CrjimT— “A t 9300 feet.” 
The Crows of Southwest CcHQrado have many^lesson to learn. Gun in 
hand, I have walked past withntxtYew fegj^of half a dozen who merely 
honored me with an idle stare. 
7. Cypselus saxatilis, Ridjg. 
feet; breeds.” 
8. Ceryle alcyojj rdSoie. Belted KiNGFisnfe^ — I have found it as 
high as 9500 Breeds on all the lower rivers. 
9. MetSnerpes torquatus, Bj>. Lewis’s WoodpeckiJk^— Very com- 
mon up to 7000 feet. 
kiroated Swift. — “At 10,000 
/y5" 
BREEDING OF THE ACADIAN OWL (. NYCTALE 
ACADICA) IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
BY WILLIAM BREWSTER. 
So far as I can ascertain, the single egg of the Acadian Owl 
which is preserved in the National collection at Washington is 
the only authentic example known. It accordingly gives me 
unusual pleasure to announce the recent acquisition of a fine set 
of fully identified specimens taken by Mr. W. Perham at Tyngs- 
boro, Mass., April 5, 18S1. Mr. Perham is probably already 
known to some of the readers of the Bulletin as a remarkably 
successful collector of Hawks and Owls. He takes many eggs 
of the Mottled Owl by hanging up artificial nests in suitable 
places in the woods. These “ nests” are made from sections' of 
hollow trunks boarded up at the open ends, with entrance-holes 
cut in the sides, and the Owls apparently find them quite to their 
taste for they freely appropriate them, both as roosting and nest- 
ing places. 
Sometime late in March of the present year a pair of Saw- 
whets took possession of one which was nailed against the trunk 
of an oak in an extensive piece of woodland. No nest was made, 
the eggs being simply laid on a few leaves which squirrels 
Owls in Confinement. — William Brew- 
ster reports in Bulletin a Saw-wliet Owl, 
laying an egg (soft shell) while in confine- 
ment. 
O.&O. Vll. Oct. 188 2 . p . /6 g • 
An Owl’s Egg laid in Confinement. — The history of my Acadian 
Owl, given in a late number of this Bulletin.* has an interesting sequel. 
On February 4, 1882, the bird (then but nine months old) astonished its 
friends — and perhaps itself as well — by laying an egg in the bottom of its 
cage. This, when first brought to me, was of normal size and shape, but 
soft and leathery to the touch, like the egg of a turtle. One side was 
fractured ; and soon afterward the shell around the edges of the hole began 
to curl inward until, in a short time, the whole egg became shrivelled and 
distorted. Finally, in the course of a day or two, the shell crumbled and 
scaled off in small fragments leaving only the half-dried velk and al- 
bumen. 
Of course more eggs were looked for, and in anticipation, the floor of 
the cage was lined with saw-dust and a hollow stump even supplied to 
serve as a nesting-place. But despite these attentions the bird obstinately 
refused to gratify our hopes. For several days after the removal of her 
egg she was restless and irritable, continually flying from perch to perch, 
and fiercely attacking any one who ventured to approach her. Indeed, it 
was two or three weeks before she recovered her wonted gentleness. 
I cannot now recall an instance of the breeding of Owls in confinement, 
but the present occurrence would apparently indicate that it might be 
accomplished with Saw-whets, which, as captives, seem to be more anima- 
. ted and cheerful than most of the members of their sedate family. — Wil- 
- — a wat, camped near tne 
base of Mt. Katahdin, While On a trip in that section in search of the eggs of 
our Birds of Prey. The weather at that time being quite cold, it was 
necessary to frequently replenish the fire. About 3 o’clock in the morn- 
ing I arose for that purpose, and noticed a small object moving around 
amongst the remains of our last meal. Further investigation proved it to 
be some kind of small Owl, gleaning among the bones for stray morsels 
of meat. On my near approach it flew into a tall fir, and was hid from 
sight. During breakfast I again saw it, coming down to within a few feet 
of us, when, apparently seeing us for the first time, it again retreated to the 
fir. I then saw it was a Saw-whet Owl, and it seemed to be in no wise 
affected by the light. At night one of my companions informed me he 
had seen a pair of small Owls sitting together in an immense birch, but no 
nest could be found. 
The next morning we struck camp, and moved toward the summit of 
the mountain. In about a week we returned over the same route and again 
camped at the place just mentioned. On the second night I was surprised 
to see the little Owl come as before. We concluded he must have a nest 
near, and the next day, April 30, we commenced to search for the nest. 
In the afternoon one of my guides was so fortunate as to discover the Owl 
going into a hole made by a Woodpecker, in a large birch. He looked 
in but could see nothing, and had stopped up the entrance with moss, so 
that I might see it just as he found it. On going to it and removing the 
moss I found the entrance quite large, having been slit by some animal 
trying to effect an entrance. Carefully cutting away the bark below the 
hole exposed the nest, which was merely a mixture of fine chips and small 
feathers of the Grouse. It contained the old Owl and three young ones. 
I was disappointed at not securing any eggs, but felt amply repaid in 
viewing one page in the life-history of this little Owl, who sometimes 
visits me in my more southern home. 
The young Owls were wonderfully droll-looking little fellows, and as 
they gazed at me with upturned eyes from down in the heart of that canoe 
birch, in the middle of that immense forest, stretching away for miles 
remote from any human habitation, I thought that single look was 
worth hours of gazing at prepared specimens, inclosed in mahogany cases, 
in our scientific museums. The formation of a collection does not consti- 
tute all there is in the study of ornithology ; and around the memory of 
the scene in that old Maine forest are clustered affections which time 
cannot destroy.— F. H. Carpenter, Rehoboth , Mass. 
Auk, l, Jan, , 1884 , p. w. 
121 
