LaHoyt, Henry Co., Ia., Mch. 10, '88.
Messrs. Webster & Mead.
_Dear Sirs_:--March number of the H. O. and O. at hand, and must say it
is a daisy. I am an oologist, and on January last I found a nest of the
great horned owl, with two fresh eggs, which is the earliest I ever knew
it to breed here. The nest was in an old snag, about ten feet from the
ground. The owl could be plainly seen and I could almost see the eggs
while standing on the ground. I had frequently noticed her on the snag,
but thought she was roosting there through the day. At the time I found
the nest, the snow was on an average of two feet deep. This is the
second nest of this species that I have ever found.
Red-tailed hawks are plenty here. I found eight nests in one season;
they nest here in February and June, raising two broods. They always use
the same nests each year unless they are disturbed. I once found a nest
in which they had only laid one egg, so I went away, leaving it until
they had finished the set. I visited the nest four days afterward, but
that egg was gone and they never used that nest again. I have never
found a nest yet of the red-tailed hawk but what it was in a tall tree,
and _always leaning_ over a ravine. They trouble the farmers' fowls a
great deal, often killing the largest hens. I once set a steel trap by a
hen which they had killed and next morning I had the male.
Yours truly,
James C. Jay.
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