STRIGID.E — THE OWLS. 95 



tuoiis burrow, which is from six to eight feet in length. The eggs were 

 usually four in number, and are described as nearly spherical, and as pure 

 white. 



Dr. Townsend states that this Owl resorts to the forsaken burrows of 

 marmots and badgers, but never lives on terms of intimacy with either. 

 The nest he describes as of fine grass, and placed at the extremity of the 

 hole. The eggs are uniformly four in number, pale white, and about the 

 size of those of the common House Pigeon. 



Dr. Gambel, who observed this bird in California, states that he has occa- 

 sionally found it in solitary burrows, and also that it often makes use of the 

 holes dug by the Spermophilus beechei/i. Tliey occasionally dig their own 

 burrows, and live in scattered companies of four or five. Dr. Gambel also 

 states that the bird is a resident of California throughout the year. 



Mr. Darwin, in the Zoology of the Beagle, met witli the var. cunicularia 

 in crossing the pampas of South America. In PJanda Oriental, he says, it 

 is its own workman, and excavates its burrows on any level spot of sandy 

 soil ; but in the pampas, or wherever the Bizcacha is found, it uses those 

 made by that animal. It usually preys on mice and reptiles. Lieutenant 

 Gilliss gives a similar account of it, from observations made in Chile. 



Mr. Nathaniel H. Bishop met with cunicularia on the banks of the river 

 San Juan, in Banda Oriental, where a few pairs were seen, devouring mice 

 and insects. After crossing the river Las Vacas, and coming upon a sandy 

 waste covered with scattered trees and luw bushes, he again encountered it. 

 Upon the pampas of the Argentine Ee[)ublic they were found in great 

 numbers, from a few miles west of Kosario to the vicinity of San Luis, 

 where the pampas end. On these immense plains of grass it lives in 

 company witli the Bizcacha {Lagostomiis trichodactylus), dwelling with it 

 in perfect harmony, and during the day, while the animal is sleeping, a 

 pair of Owls stand a few inches within the main entrance of the burrow, 

 and at the first sound, be it near or distant, leave, their station and remain 

 outside the hole, or upon the mound that forms the roof of their domicile. 

 At the approach of man, both birds, with their irides dilated, mount above 

 him in the air, and keep \\\) an alarm-note until he passes. Then they 

 quietly settle down in the grass, or return to their former place. On the 

 pampas Mr. Bishop did not observe them taking their prey during the 

 daytime, but as soon as the sun had set, the Bizcacha and Owls both leave 

 their holes in search of food, the young of the former playing about the 

 birds as they alight near them. They do not associate in companies, there 

 being but one pair to a hole. Each couple keep separate from their neigh- 

 bors, and at night do not stray from their homes. 



It is both diurnal and nocturnal, and feeds at all hours. Outside the town 

 of San Juan, which lies upon the eastern base of tlie Andes, Mr. Bishop 

 had a fine oppoitunity to watch their habits in a locality differing entirely 

 from the pampas. The country around San Juan is a dreary desert, cov- 



