HORNED OWLS, ETC. 



189 



ing again as it seeks another perch. The note is a slirill cry which 

 is uttered generally while the bird is on the wing." (Fisher.) 



GENUS SPEOTYTO. 



BURBOWING 



tarsus more than twice as long- as 

 bare 



Jb'ioiu Biolujiicul Survey, U. S. Dept. 

 ot Agriculture. 



Fig. 252. 



378. Speotyto cunicularia hypogsea (Bonap.) 

 Owl. 



Tail only about half as long as wing- : 

 middle toe. scantily feathered in front 

 behind ; toes bristly. 



Adults. — Upper parts dull earth brow n. 

 spotted and barred with white and buff y ; 

 under parts mainly buffy barred with brow n. 

 Young : under parts mainly buffy, unmarked : 

 upper parts plain brown except wings and 

 tail, which are as in adults. Length: U-11. 

 wing- 5.8U-7.1HJ. tail O.15-O.50, bill ..■).5-.G0 



Distribution. — Plains region from the 

 Pacific east to Dakota and Texas, and from 

 British Columbia and eastern slope of Rocky 

 Mountains soiitli to Guatemala. 



Nest. — At tlie end of an old burrow of 

 prairie dog, badger, or ground squirrel, or in 

 a similar cavity. -Eggs: to 11, white. 



Food. — Ground squirrels, young prairie 

 dogs, mice, gophers, small birds, frogs, liz- 

 ards, horned toads, and even fish, together with crickets, grasshoppers, 

 beetles, scorpions, and eentipeds. 



When yon are living in the owls' country, they, like the ground 

 squirrels and prairie dogs, come to seem a part of the landscape, and 

 as you ride over the great brown stretches you find yourself looking 

 for the quaint little 'Billy owls' for life and interest on the mono- 

 tonous way. In a region where there are onlj^ scattered holes suit- 

 able for their nests, solitary owls or families are most often seen, and 

 sometimes there will be as many as nine around one burrow. But 

 where a groimd squirrel colony or prairie dog town offers good nest 

 holes the little owls gather in companies. 



In dog towns they often find spacious old badger holes to occupy. 

 As you walk about one of the towns and the dogs lope off to their 

 holes shaking their little yellow tails as they disapiiear, the owls 

 stand statue-like around their burrows with their eyes upon you. If 

 you are bent on getting within good phot(\graphing range the young 

 ones will go backing down their holes, their solemn round yellow 

 eyes fi.xed on yours till they drop below the earth line. Their ciders 

 will probably fly before you get your focus, though it is only a low 

 short flight to a neighboring mound. It rarely seems to occur to 

 them to leave the town. 



The association of owls, dogs, badgers, and rattlesnakes is far from 

 being that of the happy family circle it was formerly supposed. The 



