THE HORNED-OWL FAMILY 39 



rats, 6 of jumping mice, 20 shrews, 1 star-nosed mole and 1 

 vesper sparrow. 



The Barn Owl rarely molests birds — probably never does 

 so except when forced by hunger — and all over the world, 

 wherever it is found, its favorite food is mice and rats. The 

 number an industrious pair will destroy in a year is really 

 very great, and this species deserves the most careful protec- 

 tion that man can give it. Fortunately, it and its subspecies 

 are very widely distributed, — more cosmopolitan, in fact, than 

 any other owl, save the short-eared. 



THE HORNED-OWL FAMILY 



Bubonidae 



The Long-Eared Owl^ looks like a small and imperfect 

 imitation of the great horned owl. It can always be distin- 

 guished by its small size, and the fact that its horns appear to 

 have been set too close together on the top of its head, and 

 do not fit very well. Its total length is about 15 inches, and 

 its general color is a fine mottling of gray, tawny and black, 

 which produces a brownish-gray bird. It is found all over 

 the United States. 



The food of this very useful bird consists mainly of mice. 

 In April, 1888, at Munson Hill, Virginia, Dr. Fisher collected 

 about 50 pellets from under a tree in which a Long-Eared 

 Owl had roosted, and found that they contained the following 

 remains: 95 meadow mice, 19 pine mice, 15 house mice, 5 

 white-footed mice, 3 Cooper's mice, 26 short-tailed shrews 

 and 13 birds. Of the birds, there were 11 sparrows, 1 blue- 



' A'si-o loil-son-i-an'us. 



