1892O Rhoads on the Florida Bnrroivin<^ Owl. *1 



descent of from 6 to 18 inches, then a level or slightly descend- 

 ing tunnel in a northerly direction from four to seven feet in 

 length, at the end of which, in an oven-shaped pocket, often a 

 foot in diameter and with flat roof, is placed the nest. The 

 most frequent exception to this rule was a burrow starting as 

 above and descending at an angle of 45° for three feet, then turn- 

 ing westwardly and proceeding with a slight inclination two or 

 three feet farther or even rising abruptly to near the surface. In 

 two instances I saved myself half an hour's digging by sounding 

 the surface with a hatchet, and once the trouble of digging at 

 all, by the hissing of the brood under the sod in a burrow that 

 made a sheer pitch the length of my arm toward the antipodes. 

 I mentioned above certain exceptions. These Ijurrows must 

 ha\'e been the work of very wise old birds, and from their ap- 

 pearance had been bequeathed from family to family through 

 many generations. They were all found in a little grassy area 

 twenty feet behind the outer &(\^q. of the palmettoes. One of 

 them, which I unfortvinately attempted to dig out with my 

 hatchet, descended obliquely among the roots of a palmetto bush 

 to a depth of four feet, made a semi-circular sweep of seven feet, 

 and terminated in a nestful of seven half-fledged young, bedded 

 among the thick rootlets. The size and general character of this 

 burrow made me think it might have been the deseited earth of 

 a fox ; but an examination of the other two showed such a simi- 

 larity with it that I am persuaded the Owls had done all this 

 tremendous digging themselves. 



Every completed huriow contained a nest for the reception of 

 the eggs, always composed of broken pieces of drv cow drop- 

 pings and the fragments of sod which had been removed at the 

 commencement of the excavation. As mav be imagined, there 

 was no form nor comeliness t(j this kind of nest, the material 

 being scattered about the rear end of the tunnel v\ ithout at- 

 tempted arrangement, and it as often covered the eggs as the 

 reverse. Not a vestige of grass, feathers, or hair was detected 

 in my examination. 



On my side of the slough nearly all the nests contained young, 

 the oldest having been hatched a fortnight, while others were not 

 a dav old, a great disparity of age being frequently noticed in the 

 same family. Seven was the largest number of young, and six 

 the greatest number of eggs found, the average being a little 



