BURROWING OWL. 26Sr 



American Ornithology by the Prince of Musignano, and. will be re- 

 peated below, after I have presented you with the notice transmitted 

 to me by my friend Dr Townsend, from whom I have received four 

 specimens, one of which I at first supposed to be of a distinct species, and 

 which on the plate bears the name of " Strix califomica." He says : — 



" This species inhabits the plains near the Columbia River and the 

 whole extent of the Rocky Mountains, residing in the forsaken bur- 

 rows of the Marmots and American Badgers, but never lives on terms 

 of intimacy with either of these animals, as has been so often stated. 

 The burrow selected by this bird is usually found at the foot of a 

 wormwood bush (Artemisia), upon the summit of which this Owl often 

 perches, and stands for a considerable while. On their being ap- 

 proached, they utter a low chattering sound, start, and skim along the 

 plain near the ground for a considerable distance. When winged, 

 they make immediately for the nearest burrow, and when once within 

 it, it is impossible to dislodge them. They are strictly diurnal, feed 

 principally upon grasshoppers and crickets, and, according to the 

 Indians, sometimes upon field-mice. The nest is composed of fine 

 grass, and placed at the extremity of the hole. The eggs are uniformly 

 four in number, pale white, and about the size of those of the common 

 House-Pigeon, the great end, however, being remarkably large, and 

 tapering abruptly. Nothing can be more unpleasant than the bagging 

 of this species, on account of the fleas with which their plumage 

 swarms, and which in all probability have been left in the burrow by 

 the Badger or Marmot, at the time it was abandoned by these animals. 

 I know of no other bird infested by that kind of vermin. This species 

 suddenly disappears in the early part of the month of August, and the 

 Indians assert with great confidence that it retires into its burrow, and 

 spends the winter there in a torpid state." 



Mr Say's account, as presented in the Continuation of Wilson's 

 American Ornithology, is as follows : — " In the Trans-Mississipian 

 territories of the United States, the Bm-rowing Owl resides exclu- 

 sively in the village of the Marmot or Prairie Dog, whose excavations 

 are so commodious as to render it unnecessary that our bird should dig 

 for himself, as he is said to do in other parts of the world, where no 

 burrowing animals exist. These villages are very numerous and vari- 

 able in their extent, sometimes covering only a few acres, and at others 

 spreading over the surface of the country for miles together. They 



