Page:Condor13(5).djvu/8

154 THE CONDOR Vol. XIII to use the Reflex camera on it. We had brought a rope along with us, and going to the top of the bluff we found a fence post which some ranchman had left handy. We appropriated it and stuck it in a hole a prairie dog had dug; then nmking a loop in the rope to put a leg through, and taking a turn or two arouud the post, I started over the edge, my friend paying out the rope. On the first trial I missed the nest so far that I could not get to it, and went on down to the bottom, and then returned to the top to start over. The second time I landed where I wanted to, but it was not a pleasant trip; 'dobe is nice and sticky when it is wet, and makes beautiful dust when dry, and this was dry, consequently in these two trips I col- lected plenty of dust. It went down the back of my neck, into my pockets, boots, everywhere it could find an opening, and I had my doubts as to whether the plate- Fig. 42. YOUNG WESTERN HORNED OYVL, ABOUT SIX WEEKS OLD holders were tight enough to keep it out. Arriving at the Hest I fbund a shelf about six feet wide and four deep, sloping somewhat towardtheouter edge. Crouch- ing in the far corner were two young oxvls, just passing from the downy into the leathered stage. I had a camera sent dowH and made an exposure, the result of which I promptly christened "The Heavenly Twins" as soon as I had de- veloped the negative. As their situatiou was not good for photographic purposes I tried to move them into a pos- ition where the light was bet- ter. They made no resistance to being moved, beyond snap- ping their bills, but one flut- tered down to the foot of the cliff after I had moved it, so I weHt on down myself. The fall had not hurt it, as, while it could not fly, it could use its wings enough to break the fall. At the bottom I made a few exposures, the bird asstuning those graceful(?) attitudes which it is the habit of young owls to do in such circumstances, fluffing up its feathers and making itself as big as two. After examining it we left it where it was, thinking the parents would take care of it. The next day we went there and found the young one in the nest, but no sign of the other. There was an adult in a tree close by, which a couple of Sparrow Hawks were mobbing. We took the bird from the nest home with us, making a cage from a large packing box, and I had good opportunity to study it for several days, until I left Paonia. If the picture I took of it at the house (Fig. 42) is com- pared with Mr. Keyes's owls on page 15 of the January COtX-?OR. it xvill be seen