Cow-birds 
flying; to 
roost 
possibly started by the Hav/k, rose and flew over as, scalping 
then, in a broad spiral, rose to a height of several hundred 
feet, finally pitching down to the meadow with closed wings 
like a falling stone. 
A little flock of Cow-birds — certainly not more 
than half a dozen — whirled past us, making the peculiar 
hurtling sound which I have before noted, and alighted in 
the button bushes where they have roosted ever since the 
Red-wings deserted our meadows. A month ago fully 200 Cow- 
birds resorted to this roost every night, coming to it 
usually in two flocks, one from ujj, the other from down 
river. Their numbers have diminished very gradually until 
apparently only these few are leftT] 
As we entered the Holt I discovered a large bird 
ft . r 5 . a , 1 } ... S .Q? J iff . 4. perched in the tall white ash (now leafless) on the 
Qui eastern bank on a short horizontal branch near the top of 
oil trie Tivex_ the tree, in form and attitude it looked much like a Red- 
meadojns tailed Hawk, sitting erect with its attention fixed on the 
at evenin g meadow beneath, but I noticed at once that its tail was 
V shorter and more pointed than that of a Buteo and as we 
got nearer I saw through my glass its erect ear tufts, for 
<$" it was a Great Horned Owl.^H"! stopped the boat within 30 
yards of the foot of the tree and we looked at the fine 
bird for nearly a minute, taking turns with the glasses 
and talking in ordinary tones. I also made a good deal of 
noise with the oars. There wan literally nothing between 
us and the Owl which, indeed, must have watched us from 
