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122 VoL. XII NESTING OF THE SPOTTED OWL IN NORTHEASTERN LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA By LAWRENCE PEYTON T was in the month of may, 1908, that the Spotted Owl (SlrzSc occidentale) was first observed nesting in the same hole from which the eggs were subsequently taken, in 1909 and 1910. At that time my father and my brother Sidney were looking for some cattle and notist the female in the hole with the heads of the young birds sticking out from under her. The hole was in the face of a granite cliff about 15 feet up and extending back about two feet. The men did not look into the nest when they went up, but on the way back my brother cut a long pole and carried it quite a ways, intending to shin up 'to the nest 'with it; but in some way he past the hole and had to throw the pole away as it was getting too dark to go back. In 1909 my father, my brother and I started for Castale on March 30, arriving at our bee camp in the Castaic Canyon about 5 o'clock in the evening, having driven about 40 miles. The next morning we workt around the bees; but in the after- noon my brother and I went over to some cliffs not far away and succeeded in finding a set of six eggs of the Rock W/'en. The next morning at seven o'clock we started to walk to the owl's nest, carrying an ax, a shot gun, and a can of beans for dinner. It is about?seven miles from camp to the nest site which in in a tributary of the Castaic called Fish Canyon, and most of it over rough trail; so we knew that we would have to walk pretty lively in order to get back for supper. It had rained about four days before and the creek was still high, so we were in water up to our knees about half the time. We got to the nest about ten o'clock and found the female on the nest and the male sitting on a small bush about ten feet away. We went back down the creek a little ways and cut down a small alder tree, trimmed it up and carried it back to the nest. We then leaned it up against the cliff so that it would reach the nest and then I shinned up. I grabbed the female by the wing; jerkt her off, and saw something that would gladden the heart of any collector. "Two eggs," I shouted. I put the eggs in my hat, took the hat in my teeth and slid down. When I pulled the bird off the nest she flew into a small tree near by, but while we were blowing the eggs she flew over to where the male was sitting and lit beside him. Then they stuck their bills into the feathers of each other's necks and talkt in soft cooing tones. While we were there the male called several times. It sounded like the distant baying of a hound. One of the eggs was about half in- cubated and the other just medium. They measured 1.93 x 1.63, 1.88 x 1.62 inchks. When we had finisht blowing the eggs we ate dinner and then started back to camp where we arrived about half past two, tired, but well satisfied with the result of the trip. This year my brother and I started for the bee ranch on March 28, arriving there the same evening. The next morning we workt with the bees and in the afternoon collected a set of California Bush-tit. The n?xt morning, good and early, we started to walk to the owl's nest. We carried a shot gun this time, too, and in- tended to collect the birds also, if they had nested there again. We also carried a couple of gunny sacks to put the birds in, if we got them. We arrived at the nest about ten o'clock and sure enough, there was the old female on the nest, and the male sitting in the same bush. I pulled off my shoes and socks, and using the pole which we had cut last year, shinned up to the nest. Then I lifted the female up