THE ZooLocist—SErTEeMBER, 1876. 5075 
have been handed down. This is the burrowing owl, at one time 
believed to live in common with prairie dogs and rattlesnakes. 
Whenever it can save itself the trouble of excavating its own 
burrow, this bird is only too pleased, and the disused dens of 
wolves, foxes, and badgers, and especially of the various species 
of marmot squirrels, are taken advantage of. From this lazy custom 
of the owls arose the tradition of their sharing the homes of the 
prairie dogs, and the rattlesnakes were thrown in by way of making 
things comfortable :— 
* According to the dense bathos of such nursery tales, in this under- 
ground Elysium the snakes give their rattles to the puppies to play with, 
the old dogs cuddle the owlets, and farm out their own litters to the grave 
and careful birds; when an owl and a dog come home, paw-in-wing, they are 
often mistaken by their respective progeny, the little dogs nosing the owls 
in search of the maternal font, and the old dogs left to wonder why the 
baby owls will not nurse. It is a pity to spoil a good story for the sake of 
a few facts, but, as the case stands, it would be well for the Society for the 
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to take it up. First, as to the reptiles, 
it may be observed that they are like other rattlesnakes, dangerous, venomous 
creatures ; they have no business in the burrows, and are after no good 
when they do enter. They wriggle into the holes, partly because there is 
no other place for them to crawl into on the bare, flat plain, and partly in 
search of owls’ eggs, owlets, and puppies, to eat. Next, the owls themselves 
are simply attracted to the villages of prairie-dogs as the most convenient 
places for shelter and nidification, where they find eligible, ready-made 
burrows, and are spared the trouble of digging for themselves. Community 
of interest makes them gregarious to an extent unusual among rapacious 
birds; while the exigencies of life on the plains cast their lot with the 
rodents. That the owls live at ease in the settlements, and on familiar 
terms with their four-footed neighbours, is an undoubted fact ; but that they 
inhabit the same burrows, or have any intimate domestic relations, is quite 
another thing. It is no proof that the quadrupeds and the birds live 
together, that they are often seen to scuttle at each other's heels into the 
same hole when alarmed; for in such a case the two simply seek the 
nearest shelter, independently of each other. The probability is, that 
young dogs often furnish a meal to the owls, and that, in return, the latter 
are often robbed of their eggs; while certainly the young of both, and the 
owls’ eggs, are eaten by the snakes. In the larger settlements there are 
thousands upon thousands of burrows, many occupied by the dogs, but more, 
perhaps, vacant. These latter are the homes of the owls. Moreover, the 
ground below is honey-combed with communicating passages, leading in 
every direction. If the’ underground plan could be mapped, it would 
