. Diseases and enemies of poultry . oij;nized by its laijie size,the conspicuous white feathers of the throat and thelong-ear tufts which measure two and one-lialf inchesor more in length. THE NEST AND EGGS. The Great Horned, the largest of all our native owls,is the first to commence nesting. I have found itseggs in February, and am told that it occasionallylays in January. In this locality the Great HornedOwl seldom breeds in hollow trees; sometimesit constru(;ts a rude and bulky nest of sticks,lined with grasses and feathers, on the large horizontallimbs of trees in its favorite wooded retr
. Diseases and enemies of poultry . oij;nized by its laijie size,the conspicuous white feathers of the throat and thelong-ear tufts which measure two and one-lialf inchesor more in length. THE NEST AND EGGS. The Great Horned, the largest of all our native owls,is the first to commence nesting. I have found itseggs in February, and am told that it occasionallylays in January. In this locality the Great HornedOwl seldom breeds in hollow trees; sometimesit constru(;ts a rude and bulky nest of sticks,lined with grasses and feathers, on the large horizontallimbs of trees in its favorite wooded retreats. Its eggs,measuring about two and one-fourth inches in lengthby two inches in width are mostly deposited in the deserted nests of hawks and crows. Although it isstated by different writers that this species lays fouror more eggs, I have never found, in seven nests exam-ined, over two eggs or a like number of young. H. Jackson, of West Chester, Pa., writing inthe Ornithologist :ind , June. 188P>, savs: In. GREAT HORNED OWL, 247 thirteen nests of this bird that liave come under mypersonal notice, twelve contained two eggs, or young,and only one contained three eggs. All the nests re-ferred to above were placed in branches of trees andwere generally tbcise of hawks or crows, renovated orenlarged. Occasionally -a hollow tree is used for thepurpose. Upon one occasion I replaced the owls eggstaken from a nest with those of the common hen, andupon visiting them at the expiration of three weeks,found that both the latter had been hatched and hadfallen from the nest, about twenty feet f).om theground, and that the owls had deserted the Great Horned Owls are liberal providers for theiryoung. I have frequently found full grown rabbitslying in the nest beside the young, and scarcely a nestvisited did not have a strong odor of skunk, whilebones and feathers were scattered around attesting tothe predacious habits of the proprietors. ITS FLIGHT AND WIE
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