358 LAND-BIRDS. 



by it." Dr. Richardson says : " When the hunters are shoot- 

 ing Grous [sic], this bird is occasionally attracted by the re- 

 port of the gun, and is often bold enough, on a bird being 

 killed, to pounce down upon it, though it may be unable from 

 its size to carry it off. It is also known to hover round the 

 fires made by the natives at night." 



d. "Its note is said to be a shrill cry." . . . (Dr. 

 Brewer.) 



IX. SPEOTYTO. 



A. CUNICULARIA HYPOGJEA. Burrowing Owl. Prairie 

 Owl. One shot in Massachusetts, at Newburyport, May 4, 

 1875. 122 * 



a. " Above, grayish brown, with white, black-edged spots ; 

 below, tawny whitish, variegated with reddish brown, chiefly 

 disposed in bars ; face and throat, whitish ; crissum and legs, 

 mostly unmarked ; quills, with numerous paired tawny white 

 spots, and tail-feathers barred with the same ; bill, grayish 

 yellow ; claws, black ; 9-10 long. . . . Prairies and other open 

 portions of the United States west of the Mississippi, abun- 

 dant ; lives in holes in the ground, in prairie-dog towns, and the 

 settlements of other burrowing animals, using their deserted 

 holes for its nesting place.* There is certainly but one species 

 in this country ; it is a mere variety of the S. American bird." 

 (Coues.) 



b. The eggs are described by Dr. Brewer as white, and as 

 averaging about 1.35 X 1.15 of an inch. 



c. The peculiar Burrowing Owls habitually occupy the 

 prairies and open lands to the westward of the Mississippi 

 River, and there is but a solitary instance of their appearance 

 in New England. They were formerly supposed to live habi- 

 tually as members of a " happy family," in the immediate com- 

 pany and dwellings of both rattlesnakes and prairie dogs, but 

 such a state of things has been shown to be fabulous. From the 

 accounts furnished by Say to Bonaparte, the following facts 



22 The authority for this statement preserved in the mounted (North Amer- 



is Mr. R. Deane. i can ) collection of the Museum of Com- 



* This still remains the only known parative Zoology at Cambridge. 



New England specimen. The bird is W. B. 



