BIRDS OF FBUr. 



549 



3nice and other small nocturnal animals, ejecting from the 

 mouth a ball of the indigestible portions of their meal. 

 The little burrowing owl of the western plains {Spheotyto 

 ■cunicularia, var. hypogcBO) consorts with the prairie dogs and 

 j-attlesnakes, nesting in the holes when deserted. Their 

 lusty, dull hues assimilate them with the color of the soil 

 ihey inhabit. Our largest owl is the great gray owl {^Syr- 

 ^ium cinereum) ; it is nearly f metre (2^ feet) in length, and 



Fig. 473. — Carolina Parroquet. — From Tenney'e Zoology. 



:is an inhabitant of Arctic America. A Tisitor in winter 

 from the Arctic regions is the snowy owl {Nydea nivea), 

 which is nearly f m., or two feet long. The great horued 

 owl {Bubo Virginianus) is about the same size as the snowy 

 owl, but has two conspicuous ear-tufts, adding to its height 

 -and its general impressiveness as a bird of more than ordi- 

 :nary sagacity. 



Of more intelligence and gifted with the power of speech 



