OWLS. 109 



as the Snowy Owl and Hawk Owl, northern birds that 

 visit us rarely in winter. 



Because of their nocturnal habits Owls are even more 

 deserving of protection than the beneficial Hawks, for 

 they feed at a time when mice are abroad, and their 

 food consists largely of these destructive little rodents. 

 They capture their prey, like the Hawks, by striking it 

 with their powerful talons, when, if small enough, it is 

 swallowed entire. The indigestible portions, hair, bones, 

 and feathers, are formed into pellets in the stomach and 

 ejected at the mouth. These may always be found in 

 numbers beneath an Owl's roosting place, and form as 

 sure an indication of the Owl's presence as they do of 

 the nature of his food. Thus, as before mentioned, two 

 hundred pellets of the Barn Owl, taken from the home of 

 a pair of these birds in the tower of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, were found by Dr. A. K. Fisher to contain the 

 skulls of 454 small mammals. 



Owls are generally inhabitants of woods, but our 



Short-eared Owl is an exception to this rule, and lives 



Short-eared Owl, in lar g e > g ra ssy marshes. It passes the 



Asia acdpitrinus. day on the ground, but at dusk may be 



Plate xix. geen flying low over the marsh in search 



of the meadow mice which form a large part of its food. 



Dr. Fisher found, on examination of 101 stomachs of this 



Owl, that no less than 77 contained the remains of mice, 



convincing proof of its usefulness. Unlike any of our 



other Owls, the Short-eared makes its nest on the ground, 



laying from four to seven eggs. It is somewhat irregular 



in its distribution, but has been found nesting, locally, 



from Virginia northward. It winters from New Jersey 



southward, and is sometimes associated in companies at 



this season. 



The Long-eared Owl is about the size of the Short- 

 eared Owl, but its " ear-tufts " are an inch or more in 



