BARN OWL 293 



the species. Again, when engaged chiefly in the 

 capture of injurious rodents which threaten the 

 very existence of the crops, it is the farmer's most 

 valuable ally, and consequently should be most 

 carefully protected." 



The Great Horned Owl lives mainly in heavy 

 forests. I have often heard it in the night at 

 Lake Placid in the Adirondacks, and its loud, 

 deep-toned whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo, whoo, whooo was a 

 pleasant reminder of the unspoiled depths of the 

 forest. 



Barn Owl ; Monkey-faced Owl : Strix pratincola. 

 (Plate XXVI. p. 294.) 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. Southern and -western United 

 States ; occasionally found as far north as Massachusetts ; 

 breeds from Long Island southward to Mexico. 



The Barn Owl is one of the most beneficial of 

 rapacious birds, its food consisting of rodents 

 that are a curse to the country ^ they inhabit 

 the gopher and ground squirrel in the west, the 

 cotton rat in the south, and various species of 

 rats and mice in the north. 



An interesting account of a family of Barn 

 Owls 'is given in the * Cincinnati Journal of 

 Natural History,' by Charles Dury. They lived 

 in the tower of the Town Hall in Glendale. Two 

 naturalists climbed the tower and raising the trap- 

 door at the top, saw a curious sight. The floor 

 and ledges were covered with the cast-up pellets 



