34 BIRDS OF LA PLATA 



counting the occasional visitants. It is also sur- 

 prising to find that two of the Argentine owls are 

 well-known British species — ^thc Barn Owl and the 

 wide-ranging Short-eared Owl. Of the six species 

 I was acquainted with five, and will describe the 

 two I knew most intimately, the Short-eared and 

 the Burrowing Owls. The White or Barn Owl I 

 occasionally saw in Buenos Ayres city, but always at 

 night : the noble Magellanic Eagle Owl and the 

 small Pigmy Owl I met with on the Rio Negro in 

 Patagonia. 



The Short-eared Owl is found throughout the 

 Argentine cotmtry, where it is commonly called 

 Lechuzon (Big Owl) in the vernacular. Like the 

 Barn-Owl it has an exceedingly wide range. It is 

 found throughout the continent of Europe ; it also 

 inhabits Asia and Africa, many of the Pacific Islands, 

 and both Americas, from Canada down to the Straits 

 of Magellan. Such a very wide distribution would 

 seem to indicate that it possesses some advantage 

 over its congeners, and is (as an Owl) more perfect 

 than others. It is rather more diurnal in its habits 

 than most Owls, and differs structurally from other 

 members of its order in having a much smaller head. 

 It is also usually said to be a weak flier; but this 

 I am sure is a great mistake, for it seems to me to be 

 the strongest flier amongst Owls, and very migratory 

 in its habits, or, at any rate, very much given to 

 wandering. Probably its very extensive distribution 

 is due in some measure to a greater adaptability than 



