Notes on Some Ozuls and Haicks. ii 



twenty of these owls sometimes nest in the same hole. Well 

 sup])lied with food, shore-larks, mice. etc. Rarely use material 

 for nests. Outside holes may be found bits of skin of rats, 

 mice. etc. Eggs, glossy white, nearly round, usually 6 to 8 

 in number. 



Length of h'nd 9.50 inches. 

 '■ The Burrowing Owl is sui)posed to l^c more than a match for prairie- 

 dog and rattle-snakes as well." 



It eats young marmots and even old ones. It enlarges 

 burrows, beginning at far end of tunnel to remove the earth and 

 send it backwards with vigorous kicks until all is clear. Dry 

 horse or cow dung is carried to burrow, broken in pieces and 

 scattered over nesting chamber, which may be eight or ten feei 

 from entrance. Owl's eggs smothered with fleas w'hich 

 positively spsckl? the eggs. Birds remain paired for life. 



Nursery duties usually ended by June, and one can see 

 funny top-heavy little owls at burrow entrance. Bowing 

 toward you as you approach, your entertainer is not shy — a little 

 gnome-like creature nearly twists its head off its neck in its 

 attempts to follow your movements with its immovable eyes. 

 Approach too near and it flies off chattering, " zip. zip " when 

 alarmed. They also sharply and rapidly click their bills wdien 

 excited or enraged. After sundown one sees these busy 

 hunters on the chase, now poised in mid-air like a sparrow-hawk, 

 above their prey, now swooping dow'nwards on swift noiseless 

 wings to grasp if in their talons and bear it away. A few 

 well-directed blows with beak that breaks the vertebrae of neck 

 quieten it for ever. They account for surprisingly large prey. 

 Like brains best, often leave other parts untouched. A useful 

 bird. 



Indi.vX Little Owl (Athene brama): A clownish and 

 amusing bird. \^ery noisy and makes a nocturnal pandemonium. 



Ur.al Owl (Strix uralensis) : This fine bird has a length 

 of 23 inches. It is a native of Arctic regions; common in 

 Lapland and Ural Mountains. Also parts of Austria and North 

 of vSweden. Rarely seen in other parts of the world. 



Preys chieflv on birds and small animals, which towards 

 the close of day it may be seen looking out for. among the 

 fcrests of the desolate regions in which it lives. 



