192 OWLS. 



though only to be met with in particular parts of 

 each, where circumstances combine to make its re- 

 sidence convenient. It gets its name of Burrowing 

 Owl, from the singular retreat it invariably prefers. 

 Other birds of this family resort to solitary re- 

 cesses in woods and forests, or ruined buildings, 

 but this delights to dwell in open plains, in com- 

 pany with animals remarkable for their social dis- 

 position. 



Lucien Buonaparte, the brother of Napoleon, 

 who for many years lived in North America, and 

 became a celebrated naturalist, thus speaks of 

 it : " Instead of sailing heavily forth in the ob- 

 scurity of the evening or morning twilight, and 

 then retreating to its abode, this bird enjoys the 

 broadest glare of the noon-day sun, and flying 

 rapidly along, searches for food or pleasure, during 

 the cheerful light of the day; and then returns to its 

 underground dwelling, which consists of the burrows 

 of the marmot, or prairie-dog, an animal abounding 

 on the vast plains of the western part of the United 

 States. These burrows are called by the natives, 

 marmot villages, and are so numerous and extensive, 

 that they will sometimes spread over the face of the 

 country for miles together. If disturbed, the Owls, 

 which are usually seated near the burrows, either fly 

 off a little way, and settle again, or descend into the 

 holes, from whence it is no easy matter to dislodge 

 them/' 



Another traveller, Captain Sir Francis Head, when 

 travelling over some immense plains in South Ame- 

 rica, called the Pampas, fell in with them in com- 

 pany with the Biscachos, an animal much resembling 



