THE SHORT-EARED OWL 



(Asto accipitrinus.) 



There are few if any birds which have 

 a greater range than the Short-eared 

 Owl. It is nearly cosmopolitan and in 

 America it is found in all suitable locali 

 ties from the Arctic Ocean to the south 

 ern extremity of South America. It is 

 a well known bird and bears many popu 

 lar names, the more common of which 

 are Swamp Owl, Ghost Owl, Prairie 

 Owl, Snipe Owl and Prairie Eared 

 Owl. 



The Short-eared Owls frequent 

 prairies, meadows, and marshes near 

 bodies of water. The marshes seem to 

 be the most popular with them both for 

 nesting and feeding, especially if the 

 grass is rank. Here the Owls meet an 

 enemy in the person of the hunter of 

 ducks and snipes, birds which also nest 

 and feed in the low swampy grounds 

 surrounding our lakes. The hunters 

 imagine that the Owls destroy the game 

 birds in the early dawn and in the even 

 ing and, for this reason, almost invari 

 ably shoot them. It is probable, how 

 ever, that the Owls feed only upon the 

 dead and wounded birds left by the 

 hunters themselves. I once had an ex 

 perience which well illustrates the feel 

 ing of hunters against these birds. One 

 April, while hunting with a companion 

 in the marshes bordering the Kankakee 

 River, we found five pairs of the Short- 

 eared Owls nesting within a radius of 

 two square miles. These nests were 

 placed on the tops of the small hillocks 

 in the swampy ground and were simply 

 depressions in the dead grass with little 

 or no covering. On returning to the 

 clubhouse, we exhibited a set of eggs 

 which we had taken. I then discovered 

 that some of the other hunters had dis 

 covered nests of the same description 

 and had destroyed the birds and the 

 eggs. They laughed at me, when I ex 

 pressed indignation, saying that they 

 had protected the game birds by de 

 stroying the nests. 



35 



The Short-eared Owls should be pro 

 tected as they are of very great service 

 to the agriculturist for they destroy 

 large numbers of field mice. It has been 

 estimated that at least seventy-five per 

 cent of their food consists of m'ice. They 

 also feed upon other small mammals 

 such as gophers, shrews and small rab 

 bits. Dr. J. C. Merrill reports that in 

 one specimen he found a pellet ready for 

 regurgitation which contained ten nearly 

 perfect skulls of a species of shrew. 



In Yarrell's "British Birds" there is 

 an interesting account which shows the 

 economic value - of these Owls : "Un 

 doubtedly field mice, .and especially 

 those of the short-tailed group or voles, 

 are their chief objects of prey, and when 

 these animals increase in an extraordi 

 nary and unaccountable way, as they 

 sometimes do, so as to become ex 

 tremely mischievous, Owls, particularly 

 of this species, flock to devour them." 

 Several cases of this kind are mentioned, 

 and the writer adds: "In all these cases 

 Owls are mentioned as thronging to the 

 spot and rendering the greatest service 

 in extirpating the pests." Similar in 

 cidents have been reported from our 

 own and other countries. 



It is true that to a very limited ex 

 tent these Owls feed upon birds. Dr. 

 Fisher gives the following as the result 

 of the examination of one hundred and 

 one stomachs. Eleven contained the re 

 mains of small birds; seventy-seven, 

 mice ; seven, other mammals ; seven, in 

 sects, and fourteen were empty. A very 

 exceptional incident is told by Mr. Wil 

 liam Brewster and quoted by Dr. 

 Fisher: "A small colony of these birds 

 had established itself upon a certain ele 

 vated part of the island (Muskegat), 

 spending the day in a track of densely 

 matted grass. Scattered about in this 

 retreat were the remains of at least a 

 hundred terns, that they had killed and 

 eaten." The Owls seemingly paid but 



