Habits of Owls 5 1 3 



more or less abroad in daylight, as the Hawk-Owls and the Snowy Owls of the 

 Arctic regions, the plumage is less soft and the facial disks less fully developed. 



Food. The food of the Owls consists of various small mammals, such as 

 rats, mice, shrews, squirrels, gophers, rabbits, etc., small birds, an occasional 

 game bird or hen, fish, grasshoppers, crickets, and other large insects. Most 

 of them require large quantities of food, and as their prey is mainly noxious they 

 accomplish an immense amount of good and are deserving of careful protection 

 at the hands of man. The indigestible portions of their food, such as bones, 

 hair, feathers, etc., are discarded in the form of pellets, which may always be 

 found near their nests or roosting places and furnish an excellent index to the 

 nature of their food. Dr. A. K. Fisher examined two hundred of the pellets cast 

 up by a pair of American Barn Owls found nesting in one of the towers of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and found them to contain 454 skulls, of which 225 

 were meadow mice, 179 house mice, 20 rats, 20 shrews, and but i bird, a Vesper 

 Sparrow. A German observer examined 703 pellets ejected by the European 

 Barn Owl, and found atotal of 2551 skulls, of which 16 were bats, 3 rats, 930 mice, 

 1579 shrews, i mole, 19 English Sparrows, and 3 other birds. The manner in 

 which the prey is secured varies somewhat. Insects are sometimes taken on the 

 wing, but frequently they quarter back and forth after the manner of a Harrier, 

 and strike with a quick pounce, transfixing the victim with their sharp claws. 

 The smaller animals are frequently swallowed whole, while the larger are carried 

 in their claws to a convenient resting place, where they are torn in pieces or 

 sometimes skilfully plucked. 



Nests and Eggs. The nests of Owls are usually rather rude affairs, placed 

 in hollow trunks or limbs of trees, old abandoned or neglected buildings, the 

 discarded nests of other large birds, rocky shelves or caverns, occasionally on 

 the ground, and by some species in underground burrows. The eggs are usually 

 nearly spherical in shape and white, either pure white or slightly tinted with 

 yellowish or blue. They vary in number from two in some species to as many 

 as ten or twelve in others, the usual number being three or four. Ordinarily 

 Owls nest very early in the season, often when the ground is still covered with 

 snow, and as a result incubation commences as soon as the first egg is deposited, 

 it being a common occurrence to find both fresh and heavily incubated eggs in 

 the same nest, or newly hatched and half-fledged young. They are usually close 

 sitters, both sexes taking part in incubating the eggs, and not infrequently they 

 defend their treasures with much spirit. The young are perfectly helpless when 

 hatched and are covered with a soft down; they remain for a considerable time 

 in the nest. 



Notes. While the vocal apparatus is fairly well developed in Owls, their 

 notes are usually anything but attractive or pleasing, being a loud "hoot," a 

 howling or screeching, or a weird imitation of human laughter; in a few 

 cases, however, the voice is low and muffled, or even somewhat clear and 

 musical. 



Color Phases. -Among the Owls, as in certain other groups of birds, the 

 female is usually the larger, but as will be shown later, there are some excep- 



