OUR AMERICAN OWLS. 



151 



prairie-dog, which generously shares its hole with bird and snake. The 

 American burrowing owl is essentially a prairie-bird. It occupies, no 

 doubt of choice, the deserted burrows of the Gynomys Ludoviciaims 

 (Baird). But if alarmed, as it would be by the presence of man, it would 

 betake itself to the nearest hole for a refuge. In other lands the bur- 

 rowing owl has no prairie-dogs to take advantage of, and in these 

 places the owls burrow for themselves. They are diurnal prowlers 

 feeding chiefly on grasshoppers, crickets, and field-mice, and not im- 

 probably an occasional prairie-dog puppy. One species lives entirely 



Fig. 8. The American Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia). 



west of the Mississippi, on both sides of the Rocky Mountains. India 

 has a number of species, which do their own burrow-making, and are 

 an incessantly noisy crew. 



We cannot pass by that little marvel, the Liliputian of them all, 

 named Whitney's owl {Micrathene Whitneyi, Coues), It was discov- 

 ered by Dr. Cooper at Fort Mojave in 1860. This owl is an arboreal 

 bird. It is partly diurnal in habit, and feeds on insects. The little 

 thing is hardly as large as the average sparrow. 



5. The JVyctei7iince, or day-owls. This small group has but two 

 genera, with one species in each. But here occurs the very hand- 

 somest species of the American owls. Fig. 9 shows that splendid 

 bird known as the snowy owl, the arctic owl (Nyctea nivea, Gray). It 

 has been found with a length of twenty-seven inches. Some adults 

 are nearly all white hence, as a show-bird, it is a favorite. We saw 

 not long since a fine mounted specimen in a New Jersey tavern. 



