Tracks of (1) Rail, (2) Coot, (3) Crane, (4) Swan. (One-half natural size)
(A) Duck, mallard size. (One-half natural size)
(B) Goose. (One-half natural size)
(C) Trail of Swan, Geese and Ducks.
PREDATORY BIRDS
The Great Horned Owl
The great horned owl is of interest to the sportsman merely by reason of the depredations which some members of this tribe commit on small game. Where not forced by a scarcity of small game to subsist on mice, etc., this owl lives almost exclusively on rabbits and birds. The writer remembers an instance where one specimen killed every beaver kid and muskrat on a creek several miles along its course. The owl's tracks are very rarely seen, but from the undigested refuse which he ejects through his mouth (for he swallows all his prey, hair, bones, etc., when feeding) frequently found thickly strewn under his favorite roosting trees (usually densely branched), it can readily be ascertained what the light-shy fellow lives on, and if he proves to be an outlaw, his death will benefit the hunting ground.