170 



NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



SHORT-EARED 0\\ i. 



be in a hole in a river bank, in a church belfry, or a barn or hollow 

 tree may be used. Little or no nesting material is provided, the 

 five to nine ovate, white eggs often lying on the bare earth or 

 wood. At the time of hatching the young are covered with yel- 

 lowish down, and, like the young of all owls they are most curious 

 looking creatures. The wing and tail feathers and the facial disks 

 are the first to appear, and even when five weeks old the body is 

 still clothed in the nestling down. 



Economically this owl is everywhere of the greatest value to 

 man. In California it preys on gophers and ground squirrels ; in 

 the South on cotton rats, and in the North, mice and rats form its 

 chief food. Dr. Fisher, in an examination of twenty-nine 

 stomachs, found traces of poultry in only one. Three contained 

 the remains of small birds ; seven were empty ; four contained 

 insects ; seventeen had mice and seventeen more contained other 

 small mammals ; conclusive evidence that these birds deserve all 

 the protection that man can give them. 



This bird's delicate plumage of white and gold has, however, 



