Owls BIRDS OF PEEY. 



it was meditating a practical joke of a particiilarly aggra- 

 vating nature. From an agricultural standpoint it is a 

 beneficial Owl, feeding chiefly upon mice and other small 

 mammals, beetles, etc., only occasionally eating small birds. 



Short-eared Owl : Asio accipitrinus, 



Plate IX. Fig. 3. 



Length: 13.75-17 inches. 



Male and Female : Inconspicuous ear tufts, facial disk witli a dark 

 ring enclosed in a lighter one. Plumage varied from bright 

 orange to buffy white, with bold stripes of dark brown, darker 

 above and more mottled below, growing whiter toward vent. 

 Legs feathered with plain buff. Bill and claws dusky blue- 

 black. 



Note : A quaver. 



Season : A migrant ; common in the salt-marshes in April and Novem- 

 ber. 



Breeds : Tlirough its range. 



Nest : Of hay and sticks ; commonly on tlie ground in a little hollow or 

 clump of bushes. 



Eggs: 4-7, dirty white. 



Bange : Throughout North America, nearly cosmopolitan. 



A very useful Owl, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, 

 etc. ; seen here in considerable numbers in the marsh meadows 

 in the fall and early winter, possibly being resident. It is 

 a day owl, and can be seen even in sunny weather, prowling 

 about in the long, withered marsh-grass. 



Mr. L. M. Turner, the Arctic explorer, says that among the 

 natives of the Yukon district (Alaska) the dried liver of 

 this owl, ground to a powder and administered in food, is 

 used as a love philter. 



Nuttall describes the Short-eared Owl as being so fierce 

 that it will sometimes attack men seated by midnight camp- 

 fires. This seems very dubious, as even the powerful Great 

 Horned Owl rarely attacks man, unless he is cornered or 

 attacked first. It is more probable that at some time the 

 Owl, bewildered by smoke and flames, unwittingly flopped 

 into an encampment, and, when seized, fought for liberty. 



208 



