[ Great Horned Owls’ Nests and Eggs. 
W. W. Coe, of Portland, Conn., secured 
I still another set in his long series of Great 
I Horned Owls, Feb. 27th, his earliest record 
[being Feb. 22d. 
March 12th, I startled a Bubo from an 
I old nest under which I had been twice in 
iFebruary and seen no sign. Fragments 
lof shells and a wad of wet feathers were 
Ion the ground, and the nest held one Owl 
Ibut a few hours from the shell. There 
| was no quarry or food in the nest and the 
I parent, which flew swiftly out of range, 
I was a bird of the small dark male type. 
I Now, if the period of incubation of B. vir- 
I ginianus is as given by writers (“all guess 
I work says Dr. Wood), or if it approaches 
| in duration the long incubation of the 
I Buteos, of which I have some data, then 
[the egg which produced this chick must 
I have been laid at an earlier date than any 
present record of the breeding of this 
species in Conn.—,/. M. W, Norwich, Ct. 
I have been serenaded all winter by the 
harmonious sub-bass of a pair of Great 
Horned Owls from Cedar Swamp, some 
three-fourths of a mile away, and as I list- 
ened I whispered to myself, “just you 
wait till next February and then see.” 
They waited till about the middle of Feb- 
ruary, when the serenading suddenly 
ceased, and I listened for it in vain night 
after night. And right here let me ask the 
question of those acquainted with this 
bird’s habits, if they do not cease “ hoot- 
ing” for a time after they commence to 
breed? I have observed this same omi- 
nous silence through the latter part of 
February before. After listening in vain 
night after night till into March, I gave 
them up, remarking to a friend that my 
great expectations had turned to disap- 
pointment, when the suggestive question 
above was put to me, and sure enough one 
evening my ear was saluted again by the 
old serenade all the evening long, and the 
next morning it was continued until 8 
o’clock. When night came again, the ser- 
enade again commenced, and I started off 
in the twilight to trg,ce them out. Beach- 
ing the limit of my intended trip, I heard 
the Owl, apparently about a mile further 
on. I listened as it repeated its note and 
at each repetition it seemed nearer, till 
presently it resounded from a grove quite 
near me and I heard a strange noise, a 
rapidly repeated ha-ha-ha-hey-e-e coming 
back, and my inference was that the male 
was treating his mate to a supper. It was 
only a little grove, but I well knew of an 
old Cooper’s Hawk’s nest built two years 
ago in it, and there, when I paid a visit by 
daylight, were the erect horns and a par- 
tial glimps'e of the great eyes staring down 
at me. A smart rap on the tree started 
her off and I arranged for a climb. It 
was not a difficult tree — a maple forty- 
seven feet from the ground to the nest — 
and I soon had the much prized set in my 
hands — two pure white eggs very nearly 
round. Incubation had proceeded prob- 
ably about a week or ten days. I do not 
think the Owls had added any building 
materials to the nest, but the setting bird 
must have nearly denuded her breast of 
feathers for lining, as the inside was well 
matted with them. This was on March 
13th, and incubation was unusually late 
Great-horned Owl. — On a postal card 
before us Dr. Wm. Wood states that he 
once took five eggs from the nest of a G- 
H. O. Will the Dr. please give us the his- 
tory of this find. &Q. VUl. Feb. 188 3 
Great-horned Owls’ Eggs. — The aver- 
age size was about 2.10x1.80. The set 
of four was somewhat smaller than any of 
the others, the measurements being 2.08 X 
I. 68, 2.08X1.76, 2.10x1.78, 2.12x1.80. 
The largest set measured 2.25x1.85, 2.28 
Xl-88, 2.30x1.88. The pores of these 
eggs are very large. In blowing with one 
of Howland's blowers it was noticed that 
the moisture came out of every pore and 
stood in drops like sweat. — E. A. S. 
O.&O. Vll. Nov. 1882. p. / 'IH 
Coe’s Strain oe Owls. — W. W. Coe, 
Portland, Conn., has again opened the sea- 
son, but we will let him tell his own story, 
for he does it so well even if he is a little 
tantalizing. He writes: “At my right 
hand, on the billiard table in a cigar box, 
half full of cotton, I see two Great-horned 
Owls’ eggs — beauties — fresh— clean — taken 
from an old Bed-tailed Hawk’s nest, in a 
big chestnut sixty feet from the ground, 
at 2.30 p. m. this day. Whoop-la ! Why 
don’t you get up some morning and open 
the season? Let’s see — my first record 
is March 2, 1872 ; this last, March 4, 1883, 
eleven years without a break. I engaged , 
another set from the old gal, to be ready 
about the first of April. 
[How about the white owl? — Ed.] 
Great-horned Owls. 
Noticing “ Coe’s Strain” of Great-homed 
Owls leads me to speak of another strain. 
Your readers in Eastern Mass., will re- 
member in the Fall of the year 1869 we 
had a “ September gale ” which prostrated 
many forest trees. Early in the spring 
following my father in looking over a 
piece of heavy wood which had suffered 
considerably, noticed in an immense chest- 
nut tree which had fallen against another 
about two-thirds to the ground, a Great- 
horned Owl. He started for it, when it 
flew. Turning about to leave he glanced 
up, when he noticed peering at him from a 
heap of leaves thrown together with a few 
twigs in the crotch of the tree an immense 
head illuminated by a pair of great staring 
eyes. On coming home he told his dis- 
covery. I did not lose much time in go- 
ing to the tree. Climbing was easy and in 
a few moment’s time I had the set of two 
white and fresh eggs safely stowed away 
in my collection box. Those only who 
have made like finds can imaginge my 
feelings of exultation. I would not have 
exchanged my sent on that old mossy tree 
by that Owl’s nest, for any King’s throne. 
Such was my first Great-horned Owl’s nest, 
March 3. 1870. For eleven years I annually 
at nest, and never once did they 
it me. My earliest set was Feb. 
itest for first set March 8. In 
g of 1875 I did not take the 
. P« I was determined to settle the 
guess work theory .of their incubation. I 
found it as follows, March 3, fresh ; March 
16, all right ; March 25, do. ; March 29, 
two little Buteos a day old. A second set 
was always laid each year when I took the 
first. On March 2, 1882, 1 started for the 
well known nest, but alas ! for vain expec- 
tations. On reaching the summit of the 
hill which overlooked the woods, I found 
that the woodman’s axe had laid prostrate 
the forest home of my Owls and only for 
a pair of high circling Buteos lamenting 
the destruction of their retreat, all was 
still. As I turned away with my now 
empty box I felt as though one of the joys 
that make this life of ours worth living 
was lost, and often as I look on those ten 
sets of white beauties it carries me back 
to those crisp winter walks when the col- 
lecting season was opened by taking my 
set of Great-horned Owl’s eggs. — F. II. J 
C., Behoboth, Mass, VIU . Sept. 1RP3 
6 S' 
E. A. Lewis, while at Plymouth, Mass., 
March 11, found a nest of the Great Horne d 
Owl. It measured 18 inches in diameter out- 
side. and 8 inches inside; was lined with 
feathers from the breast of the Owl. Buried 
in them were two eggs, both measuring 2.25 x 
1.94. 
O.&O. XIII. July. 1888 p.lW 
O.&O. Vlll. June. 1883. p.AGT 
