Horned and Hoot Owls 



alarmed; and besides these sounds, they sharply and rapidly click 

 their bills when excited and enraged, just as all owls do. 



A great many colonies are purposely located on the outskirts 

 of prairie dog towns for obvious reasons. The amount of food 

 required by a family of eight or ten hungry owls, any one of 

 which eats more than its weight in a day, is enormous; and after 

 sundown, one sees the busy hunters on the chase, now poised in 

 mid air, like the sparrow hawk, above their prey; now swooping 

 downward on swift, noiseless wings to grasp it in their talons and 

 bear it away. A few well directed blows with the beak, that 

 break the vertebrae of the neck, quiet the struggling victim for- 

 ever. It is amazing how large the prey is that one of these bold 

 little owls will quickly overcome. The brains are the favorite 

 tid-bits, and often all other parts remain untouched. "Noxious 

 vermin," that is, mice, squirrels, gophers, and such humble quarry, 

 are the prairie owl's staple food, which lays the western farmer 

 under special obligation to see that his rapacious ally receives the 

 fullest protection. 



35 



