42 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 
to excavate for itself. T#€ mining instinct varies 
greatly in strength, even on the pampas. Some pairs, 
long mated, only begin to dig when the breeding 
season is already on them; others make their bur- 
rows as early as April—that is, six months before 
the breeding-season. Generally both birds work, 
one standing by and regarding operations with an 
aspect of grave interest, and taking its place in 
the pit when the other retires; but sometimes the 
female has no assistance from her partner, and the 
burrow then is very short. Some pairs work expedi- 
tiously and their kennel is deep and neatly made; 
others go about their task in a perfunctory manner, 
and begin, only to abandon, perhaps half a dozen 
burrows, and then rest two or three weeks from 
their unprofitable labours. But whether industrious 
or indolent, by September they all have their burrows 
made. I can only account for Azara’s unfortunate 
statement, repeated by scores of compilers, that the 
Owl never constructs its own habitations, by assum- 
ing that a century ago, when he lived and when the 
country was still very sparsely settled, this Owl had 
not yet become so abundant or laid aside the wary 
habit the aborigines had taught it, so that he did 
not become very familiar with its habits. 
