488 THE BURROWING OWL, 
headless snakes litter the floor, and invite the offices of the far-venturing 
blow-fly. Fleas usually abound; and altogether the nuptial chamber of this 
doughty troglodyte is not an inviting place. 
From six to eleven young are raised in a single brood; and when we 
consider that the adults themselves require more than their own weight of 
animal food daily, we begin to form some conception of the economic im- 
portance of these birds. Their food includes all the baneful rout of rodents, 
and they are able to 
kill “ground  squir- 
rels” of a size equal 
to their own.  Be- 
sides these. lizards, 
frogs, snakes, and 
even small fish, are 
captured. Grasshop- 
pers and crickets, as 
well as beetles of 
many sorts, are 
staple food, and for 
these the bird hunts 
by day as well as by 
night. In the pur- 
suit of prey, how- 
ever, the birds be- 
come much more 
active at sunset, 
when they may be 
seen flitting about 
on noiseless wing, or 
Taken in Walla Walla County Photo by the Author, 
THE END OF THE BURROW, 
THE EGGS ARK THOSE OF PRECEDING ILLUSTRATION 
else hovering in mid air above a suspected spot, after the well known fashion 
of the Sparrow Hawk. Small game is snatched from the ground without 
lighting, but in capturing a ground squirrel, the bird first plants his talons 
in the back, then breaks the creature’s neck by sharp quick blows of the 
beak. Soberly regarding the special situation of the East-side rancher, J 
should say that the Burrowing Owl is his best ally among birds, and that he 
who wantonly destroys one should be classed with the man who tramples a 
field of grain or sets fire to a haystack. 
Whenever food is plenty and the ground inviting, Burrowing Owls are 
likely to form little colonies, ten or a dozen pairs being found in a stretch 
of two or three acres. They appear to be peaceably disposed toward each 
other, and mates are notably faithful. Soon after the return in spring, which 
occurs during the first week in March for the southern part of the State, and 
