Horned and Hoot Owls 



the feathers margined with yellow; under parts whitish or 

 buff, the breast broadly streaked, never mottled, with brown, 

 and underneath more finely and sparingly streaked ; tail 

 barred with buff and dusky bands of equal width. Bill and 

 claws dusky blue black; legs feathered with buff. 



Range Nearly cosmopolitan ; throughout North America, and 

 nesting from Virginia northward. 



Season Chiefly a migratory visitor ; April, November ; also a 

 resident in many sections. 



Here is an owl that breaks through several family traditions, 

 for it does not live in woods, neither does it confine its hunting 

 excursions to the dark hours; but, living in the marshes or grassy 

 meadows, it flies abroad much by day, especially in cloudy 

 weather, after two o'clock in the afternoon, as well as at night. 

 Another unconventional trait it has : it makes its nest of hay and 

 sticks on the ground instead of in hollow trees or upper parts 

 of buildings; and one nest that contained six white eggs, dis- 

 covered in a lonely marsh where the least bittern was the owl's 

 nearest neighbor, was in a tussock quite surrounded by water. 

 The bittern, that misanthropic recluse, springing into the air, 

 was off at once, dangling its legs behind it ; whereas the marsh 

 owl, that is not at all shy, simply stared and blinked, with a half 

 human expression of wonder on its face, until the intruder became 

 too impertinent and lifted it off its nest. Even then it did 

 nothing more spiteful than to sharply click its bill as it circled 

 about just overhead. Yet there seems to be a popular impression 

 that this owl is fierce. Even Nuttall has said it will attack a 

 man ! In the west the burrows of ground squirrels and rabbits or 

 the hole of a muskrat have been utilized, since none of the owls 

 is overscrupulous about appropriating other creatures' homes, 

 however much attached a pair may become to a spot that 

 has once cradled their brood. "As useless as a last year's nest " 

 can have no meaning to owls. Still another peculiarity of this owl 

 is that it is almost never seen to alight on a tree; the ground is its 

 usual resting place, a stump or knoll a high enough point of van- 

 tage. Mice, gophers, and insects of various kinds, which are its 

 food, keep this hunter close to earth ; and as it flies low, and does 

 not take to wing until fairly stepped on, it encourages close 

 acquaintance, thereby earning a reputation for being the most 

 abundant species in the United States. Its alleged superiority of 



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