Barn Owls 



515 



FIG. 159. American Barn Owl, Strix pratincola. 



available, but in the western part of the country it more frequently selects cavities 

 in the sides of gullies and rocky cliffs and occasionally makes use of hollow stubs 

 and trees. The nest proper, if it may be so called, consists of a few feathers 

 or more frequently of such rubbish as collects in the vicinity. The eggs generally 

 number from four to seven, but as many as ten or eleven have been reported 

 in a single nest. "The period of incubation is from three to three and a half 



