284 
STRIX NEBULOSA. 
times they take possession of the old nest of a crow, 
or a red-tailed hawk. In all these situations I have 
found their eggs and young. The eggs are of a globular 
form, pure white, with a smooth shell, and are from 
four to six in number. So far as I have been able to 
ascertain, they rear only one brood in a season. The 
young, like those of all other owls, are at first covered 
with a downy substance, some of which is seen inter- 
mixed with and protruding from the feathers, some 
weeks after the bird is nearly fledged. They are fed by the 
parents for a long time, standing perched, and emitting 
a hissing noise in lieu of a call. This noise may be 
heard in a calm night, for fifty, or probably a hundred 
yards, and is by no means musical. To a person lost 
in a swamp, it is, indeed, extremely dismal. 
“ The plumage of the barred owl differs very consider- 
ably, in respect to colour, in different individuals, more 
so among the males. The males are also smaller than 
the females, but less so than in some other species. 
During the severe winters of our Middle Districts, those 
that remain there suffer very much ; but the greater 
number, as in other species, remove to the Southern 
States. When kept in captivity, they prove excellent 
mousers. 
“ The antipathy shewn to owls by every species of 
day bird is extreme. They are followed and pursued 
on all occasions; and although few of the day birds 
ever prove dangerous enemies, their conduct towards 
the owls is evidently productive of great annoyance to 
them. When the barred owl is shot at and wounded, 
it snaps its bill sharply and frequently, raises all its 
feathers, looks towards the person in the most uncouth 
manner, but, on the least chance of escape, moves off’ 
in great leaps with considerable rapidity. 
<c The barred owl is very often exposed for sale in the 
New Orleans market. The Creoles make gumbo of 
it, and pronounce the flesh palatable.” 
