344 LAND-BIRDS. 



They are white, and somewhat spherical. Several which I 

 took from two nests, near Boston, had apparently been laid 

 about the middle of April. 



c. The Short-eared Owls, though resident in Massachusetts 

 throughout the year, are much less common than some other 

 species. They are generally considered more abundant near 

 the seashore than elsewhere, and even resort to marshes. 

 They usually rest during the day on the ground or near it, 

 and, when flushed, fly as if dazed, and soon alight. I have 

 seen them abroad, however, on cloudy days. They sometimes 

 occur in woods, particularly such as are swampy, but, in hunt- 

 ing, they more often fly over meadows or fields, moving their 

 wings silently, and often sailing directly forward for a consid- 

 erable distance. They also perch to watch for their prey, 

 which seems to consist chiefly of mice and insects. Occasion- 

 ally, when startled on the ground, they move off in leaps, 

 more quickly than one might suppose them to be capable of 

 leaping, but they commonly take to wing. Audubon speaks of 

 them as common in the Floridas during the winter, and says : 

 ''Indeed I was surprised to see the great number of these 

 birds which at that period were to be found in the open prai- 

 ries of that country, rising from the tall grass in a hurried 

 manner, and zig-zagging for a few yards, as if suddenly 

 wakened from sound sleep, then sailing to some distance in 

 a direct course, and dropping among the thickest herbage." 

 He adds: "I never started two birds at once, but always 

 found them singly at distances of from twenty to a hundred 

 yards." . . . The Short-eared Owls are partially migratory. 



d. Their notes, if they have any, I have neither heard, nor 

 seen described. 



III. SYRNIUM. 



A. CINEREUM. Great Gray Old. Cinereous Old. Very 

 rare so far to the southward as Massachusetts, occurring there 

 in winter only.* 



* An irregular winter visitor to New considered one of the very rarest of 

 England, oftenest seen in the more our raptorial birds. An exception 

 northern States, but even there justly to this rule occurred in the winter of 



