114 THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 



Owl, Short-eared. — Length, fifteen inches; extent, 

 three feet, four inches; whole upper surf ace, longitudinal- 

 ly streaked with dark brown and buff, with round buff 

 spots on the wings and middle of the back; bill, one and 

 a quarter inches, black; eyes, rich golden yellow, placed in 

 a bed of deep black, which radiates outward all around, 

 except towards the bill where the plumage is white; ears, 

 bordered with a semi-circular line of black and tawny yel- 

 low dots; tail, rounded, longer than usual with Owls, 

 crossed with five bands of dark brown and as many of 

 yellow ochre, some of the latter having central spots of 

 dark brown, the whole tipped with white; quills, banded 

 with dark brown and yellow ochre ; breast and belly buff, 

 longitudinally streaked with dark brown; legs and thighs, 

 plain buff, tips of. the three first quill feathers, black; 

 legs, clothed to the claws, which are black, curved to 

 about the quarter of a circle and exceedingly sharp. The 

 female is somewhat larger and much darker; the spots on 

 the breast are larger and more numerous. 



The nest is a depression in the ground generally under 

 a bush; it is made of coarse grass and sticks and lined 

 with finer material and feathers from the parent bird. 

 Mating begins in April or May. The eggs are from three 

 to five in number, of a soiled white, and one and three- 

 fifths 'by one and one-fourth inches in size. 



The birds breed and are distributed over the whole 

 United States, in fact, nearly all over the world. In the 

 United States they are more numerous in winter owing to 

 large accessions from northern regions. 



Their cry is a harsh quaver. 



Government examinations of 45 stomachs showed that 

 4 contained small birds, 34 mice, 3 other mammals, 7 in- 

 sects, 6 were empty. Examinations of 101 stomachs 

 showed that 11 contained small birds, 77 mice, 8 other 

 mammals, 7 insects, and 14 were empty. 



Owl, Snowy. — Length, twenty-two and a half inches; 



