SPEOTYTO CUNICULARIA VAR. HYPOG^A. 323 



ered characteristic of the plains. Wherever it can find shelter in the 

 holes of such animals as wolves, foxes, and badgers, and especially of 

 the various species of marmot squirrels, there it is fouud in abundance; 

 and iu not a few instances small colonies are observed living apart from 

 their ordinary associates, in holes apparently dug by themselves. They 

 constitute a notable exception to the general rule of arboricole habits 

 in this family, beiiig specially fitted by their conformation for the sub- 

 terranean mode of life for which they are designed, and are further- 

 more exceptional in their gregarious disposition, here carried to the ex- 

 treme. The diffusion of the species in the West is so general that there 

 is little occasion to mention particular localities. They are met with iu 

 suitable situations throughout nearly all the Missouri region, except the 

 easternmost, and are especially abundant to the south and west. The 

 most eastern point 1 have found them was a little beyond Fort Riley, in 

 Kansas; they were observed in great numbers thence to and along the 

 Arkansas River. I saw them near Fort Wingate, in New Mexico. 

 They occur in various parts of Arizona, living with the western spermo- 

 phile, Gynomys var. gunnisoni, and on the coastof Southern California I 

 found them plentiful in the burrows of SpennopJiUu^ heecheyi, which are 

 numerous on the plain that stretches from Los Angeles to the seashore. 

 In the northwest. Dr. Hayden remarks, he does not remember to have 

 ever seen a prairie-dog village that was not inhabited by one or more 

 pairs of the birds. Southward they extend into Mexico; to the north 

 I am not aware that they have been observed beyond the United 

 States border, and I saw none along the northern boundary of Dakota. 

 But Dr. Suckley found them at Fort Benton, at the head of navigation 

 ou the Missouri, and, with Dr. Cooper, in Oregon and Washington Terri- 

 tories. In further illustration of their distribution, I insert the following 

 communication from Mr. Allen, which also contains some interesting 

 biographical items: 



'' We found the Burrowing Owl a more or less frequent inhabitant of 

 the prairie-dog "towns," from Middle Kansas westward to the base of 

 the mountains in Colorado, and in Southern Wyoming; also in the 

 Great Salt Lake Valley, in Utah, where they occupied the deserted 

 holes of badgers and coyotes in the absence of thote of prairie-dogs. 

 Contrary to the experience of Townsend and Say, we found them usually 

 wary and difficult to approach, and, when once fully aroused, they were 

 almost sure to keep out of reach. Occasionally, however, they showed but 

 little timidity. They appear to live in small colonies of several pairs, 

 these colonies being generally quite widely separated. We often trav- 

 eled a whole day on the plains, passing most of the time through a suc- 

 cession of prairie-dog villages, without perceiving any indication of the 

 presence of the Owls. In twice crossing South Park we saw none what- 

 ever, and in a journey thence eastward over the mountains to Colorado 

 City, -we met with the Owls but once or twice, although the western prairie- 

 dog {Gynomys xnv. gunnisoni) occurred in abundance. Though a wide- 

 ranging species, they appear to be quite locally distributed, by no means 

 inhabiting all the prairie-dog villages, as some writers have rather con- 

 fidently affirmed. Mr. Townsend says that 'the Indians assert, with 

 great confidence, that it retires into its burrow and spends the winter 

 in a torpid state.' I found, however, both the prairie-dogs and the Bur- 

 rowing Owls abroad and very active ou pleasant days in December and 

 January, on the plains of Western Kansas, although the temperature 

 often fell nearly to zero (Fahrenheit) during the nights following. I 

 was also assured by old residents of the plains that both these animals 



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