BUREOWING OWL. 



189 



tlie home. After the young leave the nest the family generally remain 

 together until the following spring. 



The species is tame and unsuspicious and may be approached easily 

 without being alarmed; in fact, specimens have been known to return 

 to the same perch after being shot at two or three times. It is a courage- 

 ous bird and will defend its nest against all intruders. A male once 

 dashed at Dr. Dall and knocked off his hat as he was climbing to the 

 nest; other similar accounts show that the courage displayed on this 

 occasion was not an individual freak, but a common trait of the species. 



The Hawk Owl is strictly diurnal, as much so as any of the Hawks, 

 and like some of them often selects a tall stub or dead-topped tree in 

 a comparatively open place for a perch, where it sits in the bright sun- 

 light watching for its prey. 



Although the flight is swift and hawk-like, it has nevertheless the 

 soft, noiseless character common to the other Owls, when starting from 

 any high place, such as the top of a tree, it usually pitches down nearly 

 to the ground, and flies off rapidly above the tops of the bushes or high 

 grass, abruptly arising again as it seeks another perch. 



The note is a shrill cry which is uttered generally while the bird is 

 on the wing. 



DESCEIPTIOW. 



K"o ear tufts ; tail rounded at tips, and indistinctly barred with white. 

 Top of head and back of neck spotted with white and black, or dark 

 brown ; a patch of uniform blackish or dark brown on each side of 

 hind neck. Upper parts brown more or less spotted with white; lower 

 parts regularly barred with brown. • 



Length: 14.75 to 17.50 inches (375 to 445""); extent, 31 to 33 inches 

 (787 to SSS""); wing, 7.50 to 9 inches (190 to 228"'"'); tail, 6.80 to 7 

 inches (172 to 178"""). 



BURROWING OWL. 



Speotyto cunicularia hypogsea. 



[Plate 25— Adult.] 



The genus to which the Burrowing Owl belongs is peculiar to Amer. 

 ica, and, although it includes but one species, the latter is divided into 

 several, geographical races, which are distributed over a considerable 

 expanse ot territory. The typical form {i^eotyto cunicularia) is found in 



