lay one great, round, pearly white egg in a downy bed of fluffy yellowish feathers.
The nest was a badly dilapidated magpie's nest from which all of the top had weathered away except a portion which shielded the bird from the north, leaving a rather flat platform of sticks not unlike an old hawk's nest, and was situated about 15 feet from the ground in a small cottonwood tree about 8 inches in diameter. The depression of the nest cavity was quite shallow and was unlined except for a thin layer of feathers from the parent's breast, upon which, together with some dead leaves and similar trash the egg was deposited.
After taking a few preliminary notes we left the nesting site as quietly as possible in order not to disturb the birds any more than was necessary. A week later we returned and carefully approached the nest. The owl evidently heard us and as she raised up we could plainly see her head above the rim of the nest.
An image should appear at this position in the text. To use the entire page scan as a placeholder, edit this page and replace "{{missing image}}" with "{{raw image|Condor10(1).djvu/17}}". Otherwise, if you are able to provide the image then please do so. For guidance, see Wikisource:Image guidelines and Help:Adding images. |  |
Nes and eggs of the Western Horned Owl
We promptly got our cameras into action and after making a couple of exposures from the ground, climbed a tree about 25 feet from the nest in order to get a better view of the brooding female. This did not seem to frighten her, but when we got about half way up a tree within 15 feet of the nest the old bird flopped off the nest and out of sight.
An examination of the nest revealed two eggs in which incubation had begun. The nest contained many more feathers than on the previous week and as a breeze was blowing these nodding feathers gave the interior of the nest a beautifully soft downy appearance. By climbing an adjacent tree and lashing the camera to a limb we secured a close view of the nest and eggs, and then by careful work, after winding the nest securely, we cut down the tree and, loading it into the wagon nest and all, carried it in triumph to the Colorado Museum of Natural History
