On the second of April I took from a nest in 
a tall oak tree a pair of these little chaps, about 
two weeks old. The mother bird was sitting 
very close on the nest, keeping the youngsters 
warm—as well as the bodies of a crow, a robin 
and a very large rabbit, each of which had been 
partially eaten. 
I took them home and installed them in a 
roomy wire enclosure and fed them on any kind 
of fresh meat that came most easily to hand. 
They were good feeders and made rapid growth 
in flesh and feather. 
Like other kinds of children young owls ac¬ 
quire some funny habits. One of these consist¬ 
ed in bobbing their heads in a ludicrous manner 
whenever a dog or a cat came in sight. 
They would move back and’ forth, up and 
down, sidewise or all at once as nearly as pos¬ 
sible—kind of rubber-neck performance that was 
very amusing. 
If a cat came too close, one of them especially 
would assume a defensive attitude, and every 
feather would seem to stand on end, the owl’s 
eyes flashing angrily, a picture of defiance. 
I know of no -bird with such beautiful eyes 
as the great horned owl possesses. Constantly 
changing with the changes of light, they are, in 
the bright sun, a golden yellow, the pupil show¬ 
ing but a black point, or in a dim light, the 
pupil enlarging until the iris becomes a narrow 
rim. Apparently the power of vision is equally 
great by day or by night. 
About the middle of October my birds seemed 
to have acquired their full adult plumage. I had 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your interesting article on albino deer leads 
me to hope that there will develop a consider¬ 
able discussion of this subject. While secretary 
of the old Forest, Fish and Game Commission 
I made some little study of the matter in con¬ 
nection with a theory I had relative to this pe¬ 
culiarity. Those who came after me do not 
seem to have regarded such things as of inter¬ 
est and for a time even the statistics relative 
to the annual kill of deer in the Adirondacks 
were neglected. However, I can assure you that 
variations from the natural coloration of either 
birds, fish or animals do interest many, as let¬ 
ters received by me at the time show. Occa¬ 
sionally during recent years I have been told of 
the killing of albino specimens of birds and 
animals, and have reason to believe that one or 
more albino deer would be found among those 
taken each year if the matter were followed up. 
Editors of Adirondack newspapers always pub¬ 
lish such items. I think that the “New York 
Herald” during the last hunting season record¬ 
ed the killing of an albino deer by a woman, and 
the Conservation Commission also has a mem¬ 
ory of this although the clipping is lost. Doubt¬ 
less the “Herald,” which has a most excellent 
index system will be easily available for the 
record. 
My first record of an albino deer will be found 
FOREST AND STREAM 
become so attached to the big fellow with the 
kindly disposition, that I concluded to install 
him in a prominent place in my den, and now he 
sits there, and looks at me with his big golden 
eyes, and his ear tufts tilted back in a concilia¬ 
tory manner, reminding me of playful times we 
have had together in his cage. Perhaps this was 
better than turning him out to shift for himself 
in a friendless world, where all owls are looked 
upon as suspicious characters. 
Within the past few years the horned owl has 
become a rare bird in the more thickly settled 
portions of southern Pennsylvania. The cut¬ 
ting away of the large forests and possibly the 
decreased supply of their favorite food have 
doubtless helped to bring this about, and I miss 
greatly his deep booming call at twilight or 
dawn where once it was so common. And for 
this I feel a deep regret—not that much can be 
offered in extenuation of his character—for he is 
a notorious and merciless freebooter, destroying 
wild or tame animals and birds without distinc¬ 
tion—but any one who loves nature cannot but 
feel a certain sadness to see any of its forms 
blotted out forever. 
The great horned owl enjoys a variety in its 
menu. Many nests which I have found have 
contained dead and partly eaten skunks as well 
as rabbits and crows, while in nearly all could 
the odor of the former animal be detected. 
Smaller game such as red squirrels and chip¬ 
munks often fall victims to his deadly rush, and 
possibly the meadow mouse may form a con¬ 
siderable portion of his diet when he locates in 
a situation where they abound. Observer. 
in the report of the old commission for 1905. 
On December 8 of that year Frank Rockwell 
shot a 125 pound albino doe on the Sacandaga 
road near Stratford. His statement was that 
the doe “was all white except a few spots about 
the neck just back of the horns.” This curious 
statement was the subject of inquiry and it was 
found that the specimen had been mounted with 
an odd pair of small antlers “to make it look 
better.” 
In the report for 1906 occurs the statement 
that “Each year brings reports of white deer 
killed in the woods. Few of these are wholly 
white and most of them are deer which simply 
have a lighter colored coat than usual. In some 
cases the coat is only spotted with white. Occa¬ 
sionally, however, a deer is killed whose coat is 
entirely white.” That year it was recorded that 
John Soper of Malone killed near Ragged 
Mountain a yearling buck weighing 90 pounds 
that was all white except a few brown spots on 
the head and back. The specimen was abnor¬ 
mal in some other characteristics and was 
mounted for the Junction Hotel at Malone. 
That same season it was reported that E. C. 
Manzer of Warrensburg got a buck near West 
Stony creek that had a white coat containing a 
few brown and black spots and weighed 225 
pounds. The specimen was mounted. A black 
deer was reported during the season from the 
859 
northern part of Essex County but only as- 
seen, not killed. I have no record of any in¬ 
vestigation of the latter interesting statement,, 
although I was assured at the time by a Gov¬ 
ernment expert that melanism occurs among 
deer, as well as albinoism, although it was much 
more rare. 
The 1907 record was: October 17, the “Adi¬ 
rondack Enterprise” reported the shooting of a 
white buck at Long Lake but gave no particu¬ 
lars. On October 28 a white buck fawn was 
killed near the north branch of the Grasse river. 
This was thus described: “Legs and all of body 
pure white except a few reddish or brown spots 
on the back. The head was of a mixed white 
and gray color.” The kill was reported by 
Game Protector E. H. Reynolds of Colton who- 
also wrote: “This deer was shot by Lawrence 
Fishbeck of De Puyster who said there was an¬ 
other of the same color with it when it was 
shot.” On November 6 of the same year the 
“Malone Observer” recorded that a white deer 
had been shot near Duane by J. H. King and 
that the killing of several others had been re¬ 
ported during the season. It added the state¬ 
ment that the belief was that such specimens 
were increasing. On September 16, same year,, 
the “Binghamton Press” said that George New¬ 
ton of Port Dickinson had shot a white buck 
weighing 150 pounds at Beaver river. 
Since that time I have not had any records 
available concerning albino deer but have no¬ 
doubt that such specimens are killed each year, 
as stated. It is unfortunate that the records 
were not kept up and more definite information 
secured about each specimen. Doubtless, how¬ 
ever, the information could yet be had if a lit¬ 
tle trouble were taken to make a search. So far 
as my knowledge goes no effort ever has been 
made to collect such information definitely. My 
own records run back to 1900 but contain only 
what is here given. John D. Whish. 
Albany, N. Y., Feb. 3, 1916. 
- J 
THE VIRGINIA ALBINO RECORD. 
Guinea Mills, Va., Feb. 3, 1916. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have been interested in reading of albino or 
white deer in your paper. About twelve years 
ago a lot of boys from Roanoke, Va., and some 
three or four local men were hunting on and 
around the Fork farm in Cumberland County, 
Va. We jumped a perfectly white yearling 
deer that one old deer hunter let pass him, being 
afraid it was not a deer. The next day we 
went back after that white deer and it was killed 
by Mr. Dick Read of Roanoke, Va., and was 
mounted and placed in the Elks’ home in that 
city, where it was when I last saw it. This deer 
did not have a single dark hair on its entire 
body, legs, head or neck. It was white to the 
hoofs and eyes and pink around the eyes. 
We have killed one old doe on this Fork farm 
since then, that was a little spotted. Mr. Wm. 
Evans also killed a pure white squirrel on Willis 
Mountain in Buckingham County, Va., some 
years since. It had reddish eyes. They all must 
be freaks, I think. 
This same man Evans, also killed a freak otter 
on Curdsville mill pond in Buckingham County, 
Va. My son has caught hundreds of mink and 
other animals but we have only seen one jet 
black mink. D. M. Gannaway. 
Alb inoism in the Deer Family 
The Adirondacks Seem to have Been Prolific in Furnishing Specimens 
Of Freaks Among the Deer Tribe 
