GREAT HORNED OWL 
In many forests of eastern North America the night resounds with the weird 
calls of great horned owls. A single bird will set up the cry of oo-hoo-hoo> 
and a chorus of others in the woods will reply oo-hoo-hoo. Sometimes in 
the midst of the uproar an infuriated patriarch owl will silence all the 
others with a tremendous waugh-hoo-hoo. In addition to hooting, these noc¬ 
turnal birds have mastered a rarer note, a harsh scream, which is one of 
the most blood-curdling sounds to be heard of a forest night. 
As the owl’s great eyes are most sensitive to sun-glare, the great buff- 
black bird dozes by day in some shady grove. By night, despite its bulk, 
it flies through the trees without so much as a sound. Gifted with a robust 
frame, sharp claws and a curved, pointed beak, this owl is among the most 
belligerent of rapacious birds. 
Owls have been known to attack eagles, and they habitually eat mam¬ 
mals up to the size of rabbits, and when these are not available, poultry. 
In regions where rabbits, rats, mice, gophers and prairie dogs are common, 
the owl is highly beneficial to farmers; but where these are rare, this 
predacious bird destroys poultry as well as other kinds of birds, hawks 
included. Where the game is overplentiful, it will even kill more than it 
can eat, merely taking off the heads of its victims and leaving the bodies 
intact. The young of turkeys, grouse and geese come within the scope of its 
depredations. 
The great horned owl breeds throughout the winter and spring, usually 
in February and March. The male bird singles out a mate, flies around her, 
bows, snaps his bill and goes through other elaborate motions. At first the 
courted one is indifferent, but after a time she relents and joins in his 
antics. At length the pair goes house-hunting. Sometimes they renovate the 
nest of a crow, hawk or eagle. Often they build a bulky structure of sticks 
on a large branch not far from the trunk of a tree. However, they may just 
lay their eggs on the ground or in a rocky hollow. 
The eggs vary in number from two to four, and occasionally one or 
more of them fails to hatch because of frost. The incubation period lasts 
four weeks. 
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