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member of this happy family usually broke up the party hy

devouring its two companions ! Needless to say this was nothing

but a fable ; but that the Burrowing Owl very frequently

occupies the burrows of the prairie marmot in North America,

has been proved by good observers, who also tell us that the

young marmots form one of its chief articles of diet. This

pretty and interesting little Owl inhabits both North and South

America. In the Northern Continent it appears to be more or less

migratory, according to Captain Bendire, who tells us that in

Washington, Idaho, and Oregon, they migrate about the

beginning of November and return in the early part of March.

The burrows of the prairie marmot are very numerous in many

parts of North America, and where this is the case the Owls very

seldom excavate burrows for themselves. In districts where the

burrows of mammals are scarce however, as on the South

American pampas, Mr. Hudson tells us that he believes nine-

tenths of the Owls make their own burrows. “ While stationed at

Fort Lapwai,” Captain Bendire writes, “ I had an opportunity to

see an Owl at work enlarging and cleaning out a burrow. The

loosened dirt was thrown out backwards with vigorous kicks of

the feet, the bird backing gradually towards the entrance, and

moving the dirt outward in this manner as it advanced. These

burrows vary greatly in length and depth, and are rarely less

than five feet in length and frequently ten feet and over. If on

the level ground they usually enter diagonally downward for two

or three feet ; sometimes nearly perpendicularly for that distance,

when the burrows turn abruptly, the nesting chamber being

always placed above the lowest part of the burrow. If on a

hillside it will frequently run straight in for a few feet, and then

make a sharp turn direct to the nesting chamber. At other

times the burrow follows the curves of a horseshoe, and I have

more than once found the eggs in such a burrow lying within

two feet of the entrance, and close to the surface of the hill on a

trifle higher level ; where, had it been known, they could have

been reached with little trouble. These burrows are generally

about five inches in diameter, and the nesting chamber is

usually from one foot to eighteen inches wide. After the burrow

is suitably enlarged, especially at the end, dry horse, and cow

dung is brought to the entrance of it, where it is broken up in

small pieces, carried in and spread out in the nesting chamber,

which is usually lined with this material to a thickness of one or

two inches, and I have never found any other material in the

nest. In California, however, they are said to line them

occasionally with dry grasses, weed stalks, feathers, and similar



