82 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 6-No. 11. 
and sprigs of willows and aspens, some of 
the latter had been peeled by beavers, 
which were common in the vicinity. The 
sticks were still green and pliable. This 
drew my attention to the nest, which I at 
first riiistook for that of a Raven or Crow. 
The inside of this nest was about five 
inches deep and lined with dry grass and 
feathers. It contained four fresh eggs. 
On .\pril 4th, 1877, also near Camp Har- 
ney, Oregon, 1 found a nest of this Owl 
in a rather unusual position. This was an 
old Hawks’ nest which had been repaired. ^ 
It was placed in a small and very open ^ 
scraggy juniper bush, not over six feet ' 
from the ground, the bush standing by it- ' 
self a prominent mark on the point of a ^ 
table-land, and there were no other trees I 
or bushes within a mile of it. The nest 
was in plain view and could be seen several 
hundred yards off. It contained six eggs ' 
on the point of hatching. 
1 he usual number of eggs laid by the 
Long-eared Owl on the P.icific coast is five, 
although six in a set are by no means rare. 
When fresh, the eggs are of a bright white 
color. They are about ecjually rounded on 
both ends and rather globular in shape. 
They average about 1.60 inches in length 
by 1.32 inches wide, and vary considerable ' 
in size, but rarely in shape. The large 
series in my collection cannot be got at 
conveniently to give a number of measure¬ 
ments. I he Long-eared Owl commences 
laying during the first week in April, and I 
believe that they rear but a single brood 
in a season, f hey will lay a second and 
sometimes a third set after losing their first 
one, and will occupy the same nest for sev¬ 
eral seasons, if not too often disturbed, j 
The eggs are hatched in about sixteen days 
and the young for the first two weeks are ' 
covered with a thick, grayish down. Their ^ 
food consists principally of mice and the 
smaller rodents, and I doubt if they are ! 
guilty of catching small birds. In the day¬ 
time, particularly on a bright, sunny day,'| 
the Long-eared Owl will allow itself to be . 
closely approached, and when the intruder 
is discovered by them, they appear to me I 
that they try to make themselves look as 
small and long as possible, by pressing all 
their feathers, which usually are puffed 
out, as close to their body as practicable, 
sitting at the same time erect and still. 
They may, in such a position, be readily 
mistaken for a piece of a broken limb, par¬ 
ticularly if sitting on a larger one. At | 
times they are gregarious. I remember jj 
seeing some fifteen or more of these birds i 
sitting on a single small mestjuit tree in a ] 
dense thicket near my camp on Rillitto li 
creek, Arizona, in the winter of 1872 and ;j 
[873. Their call-note, as near as I can re- ' 
member, resembles that of the Screech j 
Owl, and I think that they are constant res¬ 
idents wherever found. 
Yellow or Red shafted Flicker, ' 
which ?—Some six years ago a German i 
collector called at the store of John Wal- < 
lace, N. Y., and exhibited a Woodpecker 
that was evenly divided down the centre of 
the back from the bill to the end of the 
tail, one-half being yellow-shafted and the 
other half red-shafted. The division was 
perfect. Mr. Wallace examined the bird 
with great care to see that no trick was be¬ 
ing played, and he vouches for its being 
bona fide. The owner put too high a price 
on the bird. It was taken to Germany, 
but not finding a purchaser there it was 
brought back to New York, and finally to 
Lake Winnipeg, where the owner belonged. 
At the present time Mr. Wallace has a 
specimen that is yellow-shafted above and 
red-shafted under the wings; but the red 
has faded somewhat since the bird was 
mounted and exposed to the light. 
■■■ - ■ ♦♦♦ 
Notes from Shelter Island. —Oc¬ 
tober 25th, saw ten White-bellied Swal¬ 
lows and a Black-billed C-tekoo. Novem¬ 
ber 21st, saw a fine adult Bald Eagle fly 
over pursued as usual by a mob of Crows. 
November 23d, I heard a familiar bird-note, 
and on looking up saw, to my surprise, a 
White-bellied Swallow. It was flying in 
an easterly direction. The Red-headed ' 
Woodpecker has also been common here 
since September. They are rare here in 
spring-time .—Moses B. Griffing. I 
