The Birds of Wyoming. 85 



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 4o 

 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 the 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. Commu- 

 nity 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 settlement and on familiar terms with their four- 

 footed neighbors 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 quadruped and 

 the bird live together that they are often seen to scuttle at each 

 other's heels into the same hole when alarmed; for in such 

 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 Wyoming these birds live in small colonies in prairie- 

 dog towns. They feed chiefly upon insects ; but also eat car- 

 rion, and occasionally small rodents. Consequently this is a 

 very beneficial bird and should never be" destroyed. Nearly 

 all of the early expeditions to Wyoming found this curious 

 little owl. Coues furnishes the following records: Powder 



