INVASION OF MAGPIE'S NEST. 31 



warmest little nest, with eight delicately-speckled 

 eggs at the bottom of the magpie's more spacious 

 habitation." * 



"Venerable ruins, crumbling under the influence 

 of time and vicissitudes of season, are habitu- 

 ally associated," observes the Prince of Musig- 

 nano, in his continuation of Wilson's American 

 Ornithology, "with our recollections of the owl. 

 But we are now to make the reader acquainted 

 with an owl which, so far from seeking refuge in 

 the ruined habitations of man, fixes its residence 

 and nest within the earth. It does not appear 

 certain whether this owl, which has been called the 

 burrowing owl, really digs its own dwelling in 

 the earth. In some parts of the world it is said 

 so to do. In the United States it certainly does 

 not, but avails itself of the labours of some of the 

 burrowing animals, which have been either driven 

 out, or have left the neighbourhood for other 

 quarters. The marmot villages in this country 

 are the grand resort of this grovelling bird. 

 These villages are very numerous and variable in 

 their extent, sometimes covering only a few acres, 

 and at others spreading over the surface of the 

 country for miles together. They are composed 

 * Magazine of Natural History. 



