THE BURROWING OWL 51 



The Burrowing Owl lives in the plains of the West and 

 Southwest, from North Dakota to southern California. A 

 closely related species is found in Florida, where it easily digs 

 burrows in the sandy soil. 



Many persons have the idea that this Owl is unable to 

 dig, and is therefore dependent upon prairie-" dogs " and 



Photograph by C. William Beebe, N. Y. Zoological Park. 

 SNOWY OWL. 



badgers for a home. This is entirely erroneous. In soil 

 that is reasonably loose, the Burrowing Owl is a most in- 

 dustrious and successful digger, and with his feet flings out 

 the loose dirt and gravel in a shower. A pair of western 

 birds which we kept in one of the bird-houses of the New York 

 Zoological Park for two years burrowed so deeply into the 



