154 



WILD ANIMALS OF GLACIER NATIONAL PARK. 



dislodge his brother. Over and over again the round was repeated, 

 the young making short flights, lighting on the solid perch or wob- 

 bling on a spire, and then circling back again to the nest. And here, 

 when I had been wondering how they could be fed on spires, it 

 proved that the parents brought the fish to the nest, where they and 

 the young ate in comfort from their broad dining table. During 

 the afternoon the progress of the young was surprising, and before 

 I left I was not always sure that a direct powerful flight was that 

 of a parent, for the young aeronauts were rapidly getting to feel 

 at home in the sky. 



Family BUBONIDJE: Horned Owls, etc. 



From Biological Survey. 



Fig. 57. — Short-eared owl, 



Short-eared Oavl: Asio flammeus fammeiis. — The interesting 

 short-eared, one of the partially diurnal owls which lives in the 



open, is reported from the flats, heavy wil- 

 lows, and dense brush of the park. 



Great Gray Owl: Scotiaptex nehulosa 

 nehulosa. — A mounted specimen of the great 

 gray, a diurnal owl of dense forests, was 

 caught in a coyote trap in the park and is 

 now to be seen at Lewis's Hotel. From the 

 concentric rings of gray that make up its 

 facial disk, it is called locally the saucer- 

 faced owl. Mr. Gibb says that it is resident 

 in the park, and Mr. Stanford says- he has 

 known of young, scarcely able to fly, being 

 seen north of Kalispell. Mr. Gird reports 

 it from the prairies and the automobile road to Many Glaciers in fall, 

 and Mr. Bailey saw the wing of one at a house on Camas Creek Ridge. 



Richardson Owl: Cryptoglaux 

 funerea richardsoni, — A mounted Rich- 

 ardson seen at Lewis's was caught in a 

 coyote trap west of the park, but Mr. 

 Bryant says they are common, and trap- 

 pers catch them in marten traps. Reach- 

 ing their southern limit in the northern 

 United States, they are interesting owls 

 to watch for. Only 9-12 inches long, 

 their dark brown upperparts are spotted 

 with white, their breast heavily blotched 

 and the belly streaked with dark brown, 

 while the feathered flanks and feet are usually buffy, more or less 

 spotted with brown. As they are so nocturnal that they have been 



Handbook of Western Birds. 



Fig. 5S. — Saw-whet owl. 



