Page:Bird-lore Vol 05.djvu/62

 A Family of Barn Owls

BY THOMAS H. JACKSON. West Chester. Pa,

wim Dhotozranhs Iwm mum b) the author

WLS, as well as other birds. are largely inﬂuenced in the choice of nesting sites by the nature of their surroundings.

The Barn Owl in many parts of the country nests in holes in the bnks of watercourses or ravines; or, where ruined and deserted build» ings are accessible. such places are often used in which to rear their young

Here in eastern Pennsylvania, where the Barn Owl is generally quite an uncommon resident, only a single nest has come under the personal notice of the writer, and it was in the hollow of a large tree.

BARN onus. ABOUT nun—:2 \\'..

Early in May, I902, I found a nest of this species containing.,7 six eggs, one on the point of hatching. The site was a large cavity in a red maple tree about twenty feet from the ground, and just beside a stream in the midst of a large tract of swamp land—an ideal spot for mealaN-mice anl other food th1t go to I‘nikf up the menu of these birds

A visit to the tree one week later found ﬁve )ou‘ng birds and one egg in the nest, the young birds differing much in size

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