THE AUK: 



A C^UARTERLY JOURNAL OF 



ORNITHOLOGY. 

 VOL. IX. January, 1892. No. i. 



THE BREEDING HABITS OF THE FLORIDA 



BURROWING OWL {SPEOTTTO 



C UNI CUL ARIA FL OR I DAN A ) . 



BV SAMUEL N. RHOADS. 



So LITTLE relating to the habits of this race has been made 

 known that I am induced to ofler the following observations 

 made during a recent visit to southern Florida. I arrived, April 

 34, 1 891, at Fort Myers near the mouth of the Caloosahatchie 

 River, and, engaging a small boat with guide, proceeded up the 

 river, intending to penetrate the interior as far as Lake Okeechobee. 

 After three davs' exhausting work with sail, oar and pole, we 

 reached 'Coffee Mill Hammock', a tiny grove of palmettoes on 

 the north bank of the canal connecting Lake Hicpoochee with 

 Lake Flirt. At this point I spent a day collecting birds, and in 

 the course of my rambles chanced to meet a 'cracker' who was 

 looking- after some stock in the neighborhood and who said that 

 he could take me to a place where there were "plenty of ground 

 Owls." The next morning, having dismissed my former guide, 

 I started across country with 'Jack.' We had a two-horse 

 open wagon, a barrel of corn, can of provisions, and my bag- 

 gage, in all making with ourselves a fair load for the little scrub 

 ponies to drag across the twenty miles of prairie stretching be- 

 tween us and Nicodemus Slough, where, Jack assured me, there 



