48o 



The Living Animals of the World 



America they appear to quarter themselves 

 ujion the prairie-dogs, ground-squirrels, and 

 badgers ; and in the pampas of South America 

 upon the Patagonian caw, the viscacha and 

 armadillos, and occasionally lizards. It seems 

 to be no unusual thing to find, in addition 

 to the bird and mammal tenants of a single 

 burrow, one or more fuU-groAnr examples 

 of the much-dreaded rattle-snake — a truly 

 wonderful happy-family, if all accounts are to 

 be believed. But many competent to speak 

 on the matter throw out dark hints which would 

 appear to show that the owl quarters itself 

 on the tenants of a burrow too weak to 

 resist its intrusion upon tlieir domicile, and 

 that occasionally this most masterful bird 

 renders itself still more objectionable by de- 

 vouring the progeny of its hosts, and some- 

 times even the hosts themselves. 



The species known as Pygmy Owls and 

 Little Owls we mention here only on account 

 of their small size, one member of the former 



BAliX-UWL. 

 IS is :i Bvitisli o\\], eviucinj^ n preference for 

 to roost and breed. 



[Brala 



;hureh-to\vers in \vliich 



I'hito bii ilr. It. II'. Shtifddl] [Washington. 



SCEEECH-OWL. 



A eouimon Xortli American "bird, feeding on small animals of all 



kinds. 



gi-oup being little bigger than a lark. Thus 

 they stand in strong contrast with the giant 

 snowy and eagle-owls. 



Plnally, we have the \^'mTE or Barx-owl, 

 which with its allies forms a group distin- 

 guished from all the other owls by certain 

 well-marked structural characters. The barn- 

 owl is also to be found in Great Britain, but 

 is growing, like all the other owls in this 

 area, more and more rare every year, owing 

 to persecution at the hands of gamekeepers. 

 It is a handsome bird, of a pale buff-yellow, 

 mottled with grey above to pure white 

 beneath, and with the characteristic facial 

 disk peculiarly well developed. It breeds in 

 holes in trees, ruins, and church towers, and 

 feeds almost entirely ofi mice and rats. 

 From the piercing note which it occasionally 

 utters, it is also known as the Screecii-owl. 



