124 , ?' THE CONDOR Vol. XV slits, and the bird did not appear to see anything. No. 5 Was a little more thickly feathered, with eyes wide open. This bird'showed fear of me and clicked his bill when I handled him. No. 6 was still farther-, developed,' with the wing quills just beginning to unsheath at the tips. Nos. 7 and 8 were little dif- ferent from No. 6 save that there was less natal down adhering to the plumage. No. 9 was farther developed. The feathers of the back were unsheathed for half their length, but the wing-quills still only at the tips. The feathers of the facial disc Were still tightly sheathed. The bill was rather light colored in the younger birds with a white spot on the front of the upper mandible, just above the tip. As they grew older the bill became darker, and the white spot dis- appeared, being entirely lacking in the three older birds. I banded all of these young birds, except no. ?, with bands of the Ameri- can Bird Banding Association. No. ? died when about eight days old, when still too young to band. I kept a record of the numbers of these bands, and was consequently able to tell which bird was which, whenever I found them after they had left the nest. On June 28, I found owl no. 2, then approximately 22 days old. This bird had all the feathers well out except the wing quills, and those of the facial disc. The wing quills were unsheathed for about half their length, while those of the facial disc were just beginning to unsheath. On July ?, owl no. 6, then about 3? days old, had the facial disc well unsheathed and dull black in color, while the wing quills were unsheathed for about two-thirds of their length. This bird was still unable to fly. I kept as careful notes as possible on the character of the food brought these young birds. When I visited the nest in the mornings I usually found food near the nest, but in the evenings it was usually all, or nearly all, gone. {On the morning of June ? ? there were four mice near the edge of the nest, three of them small rodents of the vole type, dark brown in color, with short tails, and the fourth a mouse of a light yellowish brown color, with white underparts and a long tail. Other mornings I found mice of these two kinds, and once I found the feathers, and part of one wing, of a McCown Longspur. On June ?9, the day the last owl left the nest, I found him a few feet away, with several mice, and the hind-quarters of a young cottontail rabbit near him. It was evident that the parents did most, or all, of their hunting at night, gathering a large enough supply to last until the next evening. There were many ejected pellets near the nest, and in other places in the grass where the young owls. remained after they had left the nest. These pellets always contained the fur and bones of small rodents, ' and' I recognized nothing else in them. I believe that the young generally had one whole mouse at a meal, and swallowed it whole. On the evening of June ? I found owl no. 5 ejecting a pellet. The bird lay on his side, with eyes closed, barely moving all the time that I was near'the nest. The pellet was partly out. of his throat. It was a full inch in diameter, and the' part already ejected was about two inches long. I was not sure at the time that it was entirely natural for the bird to eject a pellet in this manner, and feared the bird might die_, but a few days later I visited the nest again, and found this bird well and as lively as the rest. On the evening of June ?, the same day that I had measured the birds, 1 found the three oldest birds gone. I supposed for a time that some one had found the nest and taken them for pets, but later found that this was merely a part of the regular program in the life of young Short-eared Owls. On the ?4th I again found the oldest remaining bird gone; and on the ?6th I found this one in the brush about 20 feet from the nest, and still another one three or four feet
