STIUGID.K — TIIK OWLS. 95 



tuous burrow, wliicli is iVoiu six to ei>;ht IVcl in len^'th. Tlii; ('<,'sa wero 

 usually fiiur in minibcr, iind iu(! (luscrilk-d as iiwirly sidicrical, and as innv. 

 white. 



Dr. Towusond states tliat tins Owl resorts to the Torsaken burrows of 

 inarniols and l)ad;.,'ers, i)ut never lives on terms of intimacy with either. 

 Tile nest he deserilies as of line Ljrass, and placed at the extremity of the 

 hole. The ej,'j,'s are unil'orndy four in number, pale while, and about the 

 size of those of the connuon House I'ij^eon. 



Dr. (Jamliel, who observed this bird in California, states that he has occa- 

 sionally found it in solitary burrows, and also tliat it often makes use of the 

 holes du!.,' by the S/Hriiioji/illi(s hecclici/i. Tlii^y occasionally di-j; their own 

 burrows, and live in seattcaed companies of four or five. Dr. (Jambel also 

 states that the l)ird is a resident of California throughout the year. 



Mr. Darwin, in tlie Zoiilogy of the r>eaj,'le, met with the van cunicidaria 

 in crossin;^; the jiampas of South America. In Handa Oriental, he .says, it 

 is its own workman, and excavates its burrows on any level spot of sandy 

 soil; but in the pampas, or wherever the IJizcacha is found, it uses those 

 made by that animal. It usually ]ireys on mice and reptiles. Lieutenant 

 (lilliss gives a similar account of it, from observations made in Chile. 



Mr. Xathaniel H. l)islio[t met with funicular in on the banks of the river 

 San Juan, in JJanda Oriental, whei'e a few ])airs were seen, devouring mice 

 and insects. After crossing the river Las Vacas, and coming upon a sandy 

 waste covered with scattered trees and low bushes, he again encountered it. 

 Upon the jhimpas of the Argentine lie])ulilic they weve i'oinid in great 

 numbers, from a few miles west of Itosario to the vicinity of San Luis, 

 where the i)ampas end. On these immense plains of grass it lives in 

 company with llie IJizcacha {Li((iu>itomns trichodttdi/lita), dwelling with it 

 in perfect harmony, and during the day, while the animal is sleeping, a 

 pair of Owls stand a few inches within the main entrance of the Inirrow, 

 and at the first sound, be it near or distant, leave their station and remain 

 outside the hole, or upon the mound that forms the roof of their domicile. 

 At the a])i)roach of man, both birds, with their irides dilated, mount above 

 him in the air, and keep up an ;ilarm-noto until he passes. Then they 

 ([uietly settle down in the grass, or return to their former ])lace. On the 

 pampas Mr. Bishop did not observe them taking their prey during the 

 daytime, but as soon as the sun had set, the Uizcacha and Owls both leave 

 their holes in search of food, the young of the former ])laying about the 

 birds as they alight near them. They do not associate in companies, there 

 being but one pair to a hole. Each coui)le keep separate i'rom their neigh- 

 bors, and at night do not stray from their homes. 



It is both diurnal and nocturnal, ami feeds at all hours. Outside the town 

 of San Juan, which lies upon tiie eastern base of the Andes, Mr. IJishop 

 had a fine ojiportunity to watch their habits in a locality diH'ering entirely 

 from the pampas. The country around San Juan is ii dreary desert, cov- 



