LIST AND DESCRIPTION 89 
complete circle and darkly bordered. Its chief food is mice, 
which makes it highly valuable from an economic standpoint. 
In the summer of 1919 a number of these Owls were seen 
during day time hiding in cavities of the red brown limestone 
bluffs along the Missouri River near Springfield. The reddish 
gray plumage of the Owl was so nearly the color of the “red 
chalk rock” that the protective coloration was almost perfect. 
366. LoNG-EARED Owt (Asio wilsonianus.) 
Common over the entire State, nesting in trees along 
wooded rivers and creeks. About fourteen inches in length; 
below, buff, usually streaked and crossbarred with brownish 
black; long ear tufts and yellow eyes. These birds are invalu- 
able to the farmer, as their food consists almost entirely of in- 
jurious rodents. 
367. SHORT-EARED Ow t (Asio flammeus.) 
Length fifteen to sixteen inches; ear tufts short; above, 
black and brown, each feather having a blackish center margined 
with brown; below, lighter and streaked with brown; never 
barred. The plumage of the female is usually slightly darker 
than that of the male. 
This is almost exclusively a prairie Owl. It hunts for 
mice and other small rodents over our prairies and marshes, and 
nests on the ground in a clump of weeds or tall grass. It is 
found over the entire State, and should never be killed, but pro- 
tected and encouraged to increase in numbers. 
368. Barrep Own (Strix varia varia.) 
A summer resident but rare in South Dakota, its range 
being in the eastern United States. 
Length twenty inches; general appearance tawny, with 
back, head and breast barred with white; belly lighter but with 
blackish streaks; no ear tufts; eyes black; toes feathered nearly 
to the nails. 
370. Great Gray Owt (Scotiaptex nebulosa nebulosa.) 
This Owl breeds in the far north. As far as we know 
there is no record of its having been taken in the State, except 
that Dr. Elliott Coues reports it as “straying south in winter 
