THE SHORT-EARED OWL. 463 



which e\-i(lenlly at the time desired iidlhiiig su ardently as to he aljle to Hiid 

 a ready-made hole in the atmosphere and U> crawl into it. 1 dei>ated with 

 myself whether it might he an uiKlersized Long-eared Owl. There was 

 nothing Ijut the ear-tufts to sliow for it. for the very face of the hird was 

 pinched and wizened. I gazed until the hird made sure of detection. Presto, 

 change! The pretended stick resumed her natural appearance and made off 

 with a great clatter, onl\- to fall upon the ground in the well-known "last 

 stages." The interest of the fiird-man always lies in the opposite direction 

 from that being pursued by a self-wounded bird. The otclct sat about ten 

 feet back of me in a clump of willows. Tlio only half-grown, its coinucuance 

 bore an expression of imperturbable gra\ity. After I had had m}- laugh out 

 at his absurd solenmit}', I a])proached the little fellow. Fsst! Instantly 

 there were abt)Ut six of him. Every feather stood on end, — wings extended, 

 eyes blazing, bill snapping. Goodness gracious! Suppose he had been about 

 fort}' times bigger yet! He wore my cap gracefully enough until we got 

 down on the grotmd and could hobnol) in the ojien. There he nibbled medi- 

 tativelv at the \isor of his caj) cage, and mnmljled little inccdierent l)ad words 

 between his teeth. Anger is always amusing, es]ieciall_\' if strictly harmless; 

 the younger and the more heljjless the exponent of it, the more ridiculous it is. 

 The food of the Long-eared Owl consists chiefly of mice and other 

 rodents. Altho the night-patrol does make an occasional le\y on the small- 

 bird population, it deserves the strictest protection on accoimt of its ox'er- 

 balancing services. 



No. 183. 



SHORT-EARED OWL. 



A. O. L'^. No. 367. Asio flammeus ( T'ontoppidan). 



Description. — Adults: Ear-tufts very short — scarcely noticeable; entire 

 plumage, except facial disk, nearly uniform Iniff, ochraceous-buff or cream-buff, 

 stri]5ed or mottled with dark brown, — heavil\- above and on breast, the strijies 

 becoming more narrow on belly and disapjiearing altogether on legs and crissum ; 

 edge of wing white; the wing-quills and tail-feathers broadly barred with brownish 

 dusky; the facial disk gray centrally, with black around each eye and on the 

 bridge; bill and toe-nails dusky blue; eyes yellow; ear-opening enormous, but 

 fully concealed; the wings fold just beyond the tail. Iiiiiiiatiirc: Dark brown 

 with ochraceous tips above ; brownish-black face, and unstripecl nnderparts. 

 I^ength 14.00-16.75 (355.6-425.5); wing 12.00-13.00 (304.8-330.2); tail 5.50-6.25 

 (139.7-158.8); bill (chord of culmen) about i.oo (25.4); tarsus 1.75 "(44.5). 

 Adult female larger than male. The preceding measurements include both sexes. 



Recognition Marks. — IJttle Hawk to Crow size ; general streaked appear- 

 ance, dark brown on buff; incons|)icuous ear-tufts; semi-terrestria! habits. 



