In North-West Canada. 71 



was tired out and was bathed in perspiration, so I threw ofi 

 my coat and vest and commenced to dig, and soon afterwards 

 threw out some manure, so I knew we were near the nest of 

 the burrowing owl, as they always line their nests with dry 

 horse-dung. John then crawled down the hole we had dug 

 and reached the eggs, and I pulled him out by his feet. It 

 just took us one hour to dig down to the eggs. The nest con- 

 tained seven eggs, partly incubated. Although John had 

 lived on the prairies all his life he had never previously seen 

 the eggs of this bird, but he said he would never forget that 

 day and the difficult task we had in obtaining the set of eggs. 

 Some authors say that the rattlesnakes, prairie dogs and bur- 

 rowing owls live together in their burrows in perfect har- 

 mony, but this is bosh. It is true these species are frequentl}^ 

 found in the villages of the prairie dogs. The owls accommo- 

 date themselves to the burrows which have been dug by the 

 prairie dogs, as offering the most convenient nesting-places, 

 and the rattlesnakes are there to obtain food, and are known 

 to live extensively on young gophers. 



Dr. Coues, in his book, "Birds of the North-West," gives an 

 interesting; account, of these three creatures, the rattlesnake, 

 prairie dog and burrowing owl. " First, as to the reptiles, it 

 may be observed that they are like other rattlesnakes, dan- 

 gerous, venomous creatures ; they have no business in the 

 burrows, and are after no good when they do enter. They 

 wriggle into the holes, partly because there is no other place 

 for them to crawl into on the bare, flat plain, and partly in 

 search of birds' eggs, owlets, and puppies to eat. Next, the 

 owls themselves are simply attracted to the villages of prairie- 

 dogs as the most convenient places for shelter and nidifica- 

 tion, where they find eligible ready-made burrows, and are 

 spared the trouble of digging foi- themselves. Community of 

 interest makes them gregarious to an extent unusual among- 

 rapacious ]>irds : while the exigencies of life on the plains casts 

 their lot with the rodents. That the owls live at ease in the 

 settlements, and on familiar terms with their four-footed 

 neighbors, is an undoubted fact, Ijut that they inhabit the 



