BURROWING OWL. 197 



Burrowing Owl inhabiting St. Domingo, sometimes alights on farm- 

 houses at night, and produces a note which resembles that of the sylla- 

 bles hoo, hoo, 00, 00 ; but has he not mistaken a nocturnal species for it 

 in this case ? 



The food of the bird we are describing, appears to consist entirely of 

 insects, as, on examination of its stomach, nothing but parts of their 

 hard wing-cases were found. The authors we have quoted, inform us, 

 that, in Chili and St. Domingo, the Burrowing Owls also feed on rats, 

 mice, and reptiles, which we cannot suppose to be the case with the 

 bird found in the United States, as our explorers never could discover 

 the slightest reason for believing that they preyed on the Marmots, 

 whose dwellings they invade. 



Throughout the region traversed by the American expedition, the 

 Marmot was unquestionably the artificer of the burrow inhabited by the 

 Owl, while the testimony of Vieillot is equally conclusive, that the Owl 

 digs for himself when he finds no burrow to suit his purpose ; but, pre- 

 ferring one already made, his fondness for the Prairie Dog Villages is 

 readily explained. 



Whether only a single species of Burrowing Owl -inhabits the vast 

 continent of North and South America, or whether that of Chili men- 

 tioned by Molina, that of St. Domingo described by Vieillot, and the 

 Owl of the Western American territory, be distinct though closely allied 

 species, can only be determined by accurate comparisons.* When we 

 consider the extraordinary habits attributed to all those, as well as their 

 correspondence in form and colors noted in the several descriptions, we 

 are strongly inclined to believe that they are all of the same species ; 

 nevertheless, Vieillot states his bird to be somewhat different from that 

 of Molina, and the eggs of the Burrowing Owl of the latter are spotted 

 with yellow, whilst those of the former are immaculate. We have to 

 regret that no figure has hitherto been published, and we cannot well 

 understand why Vieillot did not thus exemplify so interesting a bird. 

 Our figure will be the more acceptable to ornithologists, as it is the first 

 which has been given of the Burrowing Owl : in the distance we have 

 introduced a view of the Prairie Dog village. 



The peculiar sub-genus of this bird has not hitherto been determined, 

 owing to the neglect with which naturalists have treated the arrangement 

 of extra-European Owls. Like all diurnal Owls, our bird belongs to 

 the sub-genus Noctua of Savigny, having small oval openings to the 

 ears, which are destitute of operculum, the facial disk of slender feathers 



* Should they prove to be different species, new appellations must be given ; and, 

 as that of Slrix cuiiicularia will, by right of priority, be exclusively retained for 

 the Coquimbo Owl, we would propose for the present bird the name of Sirix 

 Jiypugcea. 



