The Horned Owls 
Taken near San Diego 
Photo by L. Huey and D. R. Dickey 
by the frequent, al¬ 
though not regular, dep¬ 
redations upon poultry. 
Other predatory species 
are not exempt, either. 
Crows and Jays are fre¬ 
quent victims, and 
Screech Owl appears to 
be a regular item on the 
Bubonine bill of fare. 
Mr. Bowles relates, also, 
that during the fall and 
winter months on cer¬ 
tain shooting preserves 
these birds make a thor¬ 
ough search every night 
for wounded ducks. So 
successful are they that 
out of hundreds that are 
wounded and lost by 
sportsmen, it is unusual 
to find one; while well picked carcasses are common. 
A government expert who has given great attention to the food of 
hawks and owls summarizes thus: 1 “The Great Horned Owl does a vast 
amount of good and if farmers would shut up their chickens at night 
instead of allowing them to roost in trees and other exposed places, the 
principal damage done by this bird would be prevented.” From this 
hopeful conclusion 1 find myself obliged to dissent, for I have yet to find 
the nest of your Horned Owls which does not bear testimony to persistent 
and outrageous depredations upon the bird world. 
Horned Owls, too, are of commoner occurrence than is sometimes 
realized. Although normally bold and aggressive, the birds soon learn 
caution, and because their local attachments are very strong, they will 
forego the pleasure of song rather than desert the ancestral haunts. 
Where danger has not taught discretion, they are quite free with their 
nocturnal concerts; but they are known to nest in places where a single 
full-voiced hoot would draw the fire of the countryside. The mating song 
(save the mark!) is a succession of resonant bellowings in a single key— 
Whoo, whoo, hoo-hoo , who —quite variable as to length and form. Besides 
this the bird occasionally indulges in sepulchral laughter, hoo hoo hoo hoo 
PACIFIC HORNED OWL ON NEST 
U. S. Dept, of Ag. Biol. Surv. Circular No. 6i, p. 16. 
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