34 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
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counting the occasional visitants. It is also sur- 
prising to find that two of the Argentine owls are 
well-known British species—the Barn Owl and the 
wide-ranging Short-eared Owl. Of the six species 
I was acquainted with five, and will describe the 
two I knew most intimately, the Short-eared and 
the Burrowing Owls. The White or Barn Owl I 
occasionally saw in Buenos Ayres city, but always at 
night: the noble Magellanic Eagle Owl and the 
small Pigmy Owl I met with on the Rio Negro in 
Patagonia. 
The Short-eared Owl is found throughout the 
Argentine country, where it is commonly called 
Lechuzon (Big Owl) in the vernacular. Like the 
Barn-Owl it has an exceedingly wide range. It is 
found throughout the continent of Europe; it also 
inhabits Asia and Africa, many of the Pacific Islands, 
and both Americas, from Canada down to the Straits 
of Magellan. Such a very wide distribution would 
seem to indicate that it possesses some advantage 
over its congeners, and is (as an Owl) more perfect 
than others. It is rather more diurnal in its habits 
than most Owls, and differs structurally from other 
members of its order in having a much smaller head. 
It is also usually said to be a weak flier; but this 
I am sure is a great mistake, for it seems to me to be 
the strongest flier amongst Owls, and very migratory 
in its habits, or, at any rate, very much given to 
wandering. Probably its very extensive distribution 
is due in some measure to a greater adaptability than 
