The Birds of Wyoming. 81 



"The food of this Owl consists largely of mice and other 

 small mammals. A number of species of insects, birds, and 

 reptiles also may be mentioned as occasionally contributing to 

 its fare. Fully 75 per cent of the stomachs examined in the 

 Department of Agriculture contained mice. The remains of 

 as many as six of these little mammals were found in one stom- 

 ach, and several contained three or four each. Prof. F. E. 

 L. Beal reported finding nothing but mice in the stomachs of 

 a pair which he killed in Story county, Iowa. They were 

 shot in an artificial grove swarming with small birds. Mr. 

 Austin F. Park, of Troy, N. Y., in a report on the food of 

 Hawks and Owls, which he kindly sent to this Department, 

 mentions mice and no other kind of food as found in the stom- 

 achs of this species." (Fisher, Hawks and Owls of the United 

 States, pp. 145-6.) 



The Wyoming records are not numerous. Coues reports 

 two specimens that were taken by Hayden survey, Sweetwater 

 river, 1870. Bond has taken them at Cheyenne and Jesurun 

 at Douglas. 



370. Scotiaptex cinerea (Gmel.). 

 Great Gray Owl. 



Very rare ; probably accidental ; but since this bird has 

 been frequently reported from northern Montana, the Wyo- 

 ming record simply extends its range to the southward, which 

 would be quite natural since in the east they are found in win- 

 ter as far south as the Ohio river. 



Several years ago Mr. Wells, of Wells, Uinta county, 

 Wyoming, killed one of these beautiful birds near the great 

 bend in the Green river. He had it mounted and in the fall 

 of 1900 Mr. Frank Bond of Cheyenne visited this section and 

 identified the specimen. This is the only Wyoming record. 



2)72. Nyctala acadica (Gmel.). 

 Saw-whet Owl. 



Resident and quite rare. None of the early collectors 

 found this bird in Wyoming. Bond has taken a few specimens 



