224 



OEDBES OF B1EDS— BIRDS OP PREY 



bination cover practically the whole of North 

 America down to Costa Rica. By reason of the 

 live food available in winter, these birds are not 

 migratory. 



The Snowy Owl 1 is a bird of the Arctic 

 wastes, and reaches the northern United States 

 only as a winter visitor. Its occurrence with us 

 varies from a total scarcity during some years to 

 an abundance during others. During December, 

 1886, — the beginning of the awful winter which 

 killed over 90 per cent of the range cattle in 

 Montana, — we saw in the country in which we 



Photo, by C. William Beebe, N. Y. Zoological Park. 

 SNOWY OWL. 



were hunting buffalo, in central Montana, at 

 least twenty-five Snowy Owls. They were liv- 

 ing on hares, rabbits, and sage-grouse, out in the 

 open, twenty miles from the nearest timber. It 

 was their habit to alight upon the tops of the 

 low buttes, in reality upon the ground, from 

 which they could survey a wide circle of sage- 

 brush plains. Whenever there is an annual 

 "flight" of Snowy Owls, they are always par- 

 ticularly numerous in Minnesota. 



But for its perfectly round and rather comical- 

 looking head, this bird would be the most beau- 

 tiful of all American owls. Its plumage varies 



1 Nyc'te-a nyc'te-a. Average length, about 23 

 inches, the female being larger than the male. 



from almost spotless snow-white, in some indi- 

 viduals, to white barred all over with narrow 

 horizontal bands of black — which is really 

 the standard color-plan. The number and width 

 of the black bands vary exceedingly in differ- 

 ent individuals, some birds being rendered much 

 darker than others. 



The food of this species consists of every kind 

 of wild bird or small mammal it can catch; but 

 there is no evidence that it ever destroys poul- 

 try. In summer, when its far-northern home 

 is full of migratory birds, nesting and rearing 

 their young, its bill of fare is quite varied, but 

 in winter it is confined to such winter residents 

 as the ptarmigan, hare, rabbit, sage-grouse, and 

 such small rodents as dare to venture forth from 

 their burrows. 



With the Burrowing Owl 2 of the western 

 plains, the Owl Family may justly be regarded 

 as "run to earth." This odd little owl indeed 

 takes shelter in the mouths of prairie-" dog " 

 holes, but as far as I am aware there is no proof 

 that it ever descends to the bottom of a deep 

 burrow, or that it is chummy with the rattle- 

 snake. It is reasonably certain that no owl in 

 its right mind ever would fraternize with a 

 rattlesnake, and neither would a prairie-" dog." 



The Burrowing Owl lives in the plains of the 

 West and Southwest, from North Dakota to 

 southern California. A closely related species 

 is found in Florida, where it easily digs burrows 

 in the sandy soil. 



Many persons have the idea that this Owl is 

 unable to dig, and is therefore dependent upon 

 prairie-" dogs " and badgers for a home. This is 

 entirely erroneous. In soil that is reasonably 

 loose, the Burrowing Owl is a most industrious 

 and successful digger, and with his feet flings 

 out the loose dirt and gravel in a shower. A 

 pair of western birds which we kept in the Bird- 

 House of the New York Zoological Park for two 

 years burrowed so deeply into the big pile of 

 solid gravel in their enclosure that its interior 

 became a perfect cavern. 



In the land of plains and prairie-" dogs," the 

 Burrowing Owl is a frequent corollary to a " dog " 

 town, sitting on the highest point of a burrow 

 mound, or, if alarmed, taking short flights to the 

 suburbs. Between bird and rodent there ap- 



2 Spe-ot'i-to cv-nic-u-la'ri-a hy-po'gce-a. Average 

 length, about 10 inches. 



