BURROWING OWL 
378. Speotyto cunicularia hypogea. 10 in. 
Legs very long, and nearly bare on the lower part 
of tarsi: tail short; no ear tufts. An abundant and 
useful species in the prairie regions west of the Mis- 
sissippi. They live in the same region that prairie 
dogs are found, using deserted burrows of these ani- 
mals, or taking them by force, for they are more than 
a match for these curious animals; they do not, as 
has often been said, live peaceably in the same _ bur- 
rows with them. On the contrary, young prairie. 
dogs, as well as rodents, small snakes and birds, form 
a large part of their daily diet. They are both diur- 
nal and nocturnal, doing most of their hunting after 
dusk, but often seen sitting at the mouth of the bur- 
row during the daytime. The six to ten eggs that they 
deposit at the end of these burrows are white. 
Range.—West of the Miss. Valley, north to South- 
ern Manitoba and British Columbia. 378a. Florida Bur- 
rowing Owl (flovidana), is smaller and whiter; found 
in southern Florida. 
