Wanderings. No. 2 . 
56 
Another I 
As our birds li 
ance in the spring 
fall, so at least tJVlllv j mv . v » d 
arising and itetiring, if we might use the term 
as applied to\the genus homo. If this habit is; : 
not of enough importance to command an 
extensive treatise, it is surely of interest 
enough to call; for momentary notice, in the 
every-day experience of the average ornitholo- 
gist, giving as it does an insight into another 
of the specific 'characters of our feathered 
friends. 
During the vernal and autumnal migrations, 
the restless warmer hosts are apparently con- 
stantly on the movfe. While the winter months 
last the Snowbird (if unco) may be seen astir as 
soon as it begins tq get fairly light, followed 
very soon by the Crow. Blue jay, Chickadee 
and Nuthatch consecutively. But the best 
and most comfortable time to watch the daily 
appearance and d isa ppearance of the birds is 
in the spring or 
residents have m 
At this time the 
As the last noti 
upon the air and 
the eastern hor 
heard, soon folli 
if he was loudlj 
sleepy neighbor 
turns to crimson 
stirs the leaves, the Oriole begins to talk to his 
mate, while from the depth Of the woods 
comes the cry of the Bluejay, followed, as the 
sun lights the tops of the tallest tVees, by the 
Brown Thrush, as he tunes up preparatory to 
putting to shame the Song Sparrow, \which is 1 
trying his vocal organs as he stands perched s 
on yonder fence. Suddenly now as the sun 
spreads its beams over the whole landscape, 
the Pewee, from the barnyard, the Kingbird 
from the orchard, the Red-eyed Yireo from the 
„a fmm C lip roadsid e thicket 
Raptores, Bristol County, Mas8>. 
Hilton B. Read. 
Great-horned Owl ,(Bubo virginianus ). A 
rare resident, and not known to breed at pres- 
ent though it may do so. A series of their 
eggs, personally examined in the collection of 
Mr. F. H. Carpenter, comprises eleven sets of 
two eggs each, the result of a single pair of 
birds. The nest in this instance was made by 
the owls and placed in the forks of a tree which 
was half blown down but had caught in the 
branches of another. The usual period of ob- 
taining the first set was between Feb. 27 and 
March 8, the two dates being the earliest and 
latest on which fresh eggs were found. 
Great Horned Owl. 
Mr. Preston further writes in answer to the 
statement in the same article, that it is doubtful 
if more than three eggs of the Great Horned Owl 
(Bubo virginianus), have ever been found in one 
nest, that he took four eggs of this bird from a 
nest on March 1st, 1881. They were laid in an _ 
old crow’s nest. The present writer cannot think 
otherwise, however, than that two or three arc 
the ordinary number ; and that these were but 
the exceptions which prove the rule in both in- 
stances. O.&O. XI.Apr.l888.p./-j». 
The Number of Eggs Laid by Hawks 
and Owls. 
The number of eggs laid by birds of the Order 
Raptores has been subject to more mis-statement 
than any others. The tendency seems to have 
been to exaggerate their number, rather than to 
understate it, though errors in this direction 
have been frequent. Thus the Great Horned Owl, 
( Bubo virginianus ), is said by many writers to lay 
from three to six eggs, while the real number is 
only two or three ; and it is doubtful if more than 
three have ever been found in one nest. 
(f.+GP. IVtfffi'li. 
Great-horned Owl's Eggs. — Another visit to the Great- 
horned Owl’s nest, March 1, 1835, favored 11 s with two eggs. 
The nest was found in the first tree that we rapped and we 
had a splendid shot at the female, and afterwards saw the 
male and female together. The nest was about seventy-five 
feet up and lined with snow and feathers. The eggs were 
of a dirty white color, and slightly incubated.— S', if. Corn- 
stock, Greenfield, Mass.Q'Sz O. A., Apr.188'1. P.bV 
Great-horned Owls E gos. On the 15th of March three 
of us went hunting Owls nests. In a very large pine tree 
we saw a nest resembling the Crows. After clubbing the 
tree with the climbers, an Owl flew off the nest and as she 
did so an egg dropped, and a large young one was seen. 
On going up to the nest, one egg and the bones of an ani- 
mal were found. The nest was eighty-five feet from the 
ground. We saw the Owl three times, and could have easily 
shot her. The broken egg was mended and the set is com- 
plete.— s. W. Comstock, Greenfield, Mass. 
O.&o. ix. Apr. 188 a. p. nr. 
Collection of Raptores Eggs. J. P. N. 
Great -horned. Owl, -i-2, 5-3, 9 23 
O.&O. XV. Apr. 1890. p. 56 
/SO 
O.&O. XII. Aug. 1887 p.118 
