Nept of Scops asio April 26 - 1875 Apr. 26 Clear and warm. Off after breakfast striking up through With Swamp. Spent most of the forenoon hunting for the mottled owl's nest around the Pin Swamp when I saw so many signs of the birds on the Wist and finally found it in a natural hole in an apple tree some distance from the swamp, and quite near a house. The Q (a gray bird) was sitting on four eggs in which the embryos were just assuming their shape as future birds. There was not the slightest indication of a nest; the eggs merely lying on a bed of rotten chips, and feathers plucked from the victims of the owl. 10 days experience has quite changed my mind with regard to the bird destroying proclivities of this species of owl. In many empty holes which were doubtless the works of the & were feathers of different species of birds & in the nesting cavity I found remains of John four or five species, including Ple. nivalis, Sialia picis, last & most memorable Murdos migratorius. The nest was in a very filthy condition from the defecation of the bird which was freely voided about the cavity. The sitting bird when taken off her eggs seemed perfectly stupid -- made no resistance with either bill or claws and lay in the open palm of my hand without attempting