SOME LITTLE OWLS 101 



of the word as uttered by the birds. I never 

 heard it before or since, but it must be owned 

 that if this little owl has only one word in his 

 vocabulary, he has certainly chosen one popular 

 with his kin. 



A neighbor and close relative to the foregoing 

 owls is the long-eared owl of the prairie bluffs 

 and willow thickets. It may be said of the first 

 two species that they are rather incorrectly 

 named, for the burrowing does not dig, and the 

 short-eared has scarcely any ear-tufts at all. 

 But the long-ear deserves his title, for he has a 

 pair of " horns " that stick up well beyond his 

 head and lend their owner something of that 

 satanical leer and " Who-Who-I'll get-you " 

 expression possessed by his fierce big brother, 

 the great horned owl. 



The memory of the first nest of the long-ear 

 that I found is very firmly planted in mind. I 

 was slipping through a swampy willow thicket, 

 in quest of a water thrush whose voice was 

 sounding there at intervals, and when I passed 

 beneath an old crow's nest, placed low in a 

 clump, something prompted me to straighten up 

 and look over the rim. In so doing I found 

 myself face to face with the most demoniacal 



