94 OUT WITH THE BIRDS 



erect after the fashion of his relatives; his voice 

 was shrill and metallic, and he talked both while 

 on the wing and while perching; also, his flight 

 was swift and quite hawk-like. The little fellows 

 on the ground in front of the door were much 

 more like a family of prairie "gophers" (Rich- 

 ardson's spermophiles) than like birds; for they 

 sat up very straight and slim, and their yellow- 

 ish gray coats gave them the exact appearance 

 of these little animals. The latter had their 

 homes scattered around in the same knoll; and 

 possibly it is part of Nature's plan that they 

 should look alike. The likeness was intensified 

 when each youngster lowered his body and ran 

 for the hole. They went quickly, as burrowing 

 owls have long legs for a purpose. 



The door of the home was rather small, and 

 evidently the hole had been dug and owned 

 originally by one of the gophers. Scattered 

 around the mouth and also in it was a quantity 

 of dry horse-manure which had been transported 

 thither by the birds, and very probably the nest 

 far in at the end of the tunnel was floored with 

 this material. How such a large family — some- 

 times they lay as many as ten eggs — could be 

 accommodated in this small home was rather a 



