212 Birds of Colorado 
it is a resident or only a summer bird; it is generally considered to 
belong to the former category, but there seems to be no winter record 
for the State except that of Hersey and Rockwell, who noticed a few 
during that season at Barr. 
The following localities are reported : Fort Collins, breeding (Bendire), 
Greeley, breeding (Colo. Coll. Mus.), Boulder co., breeding on plains 
(Gale), near Colorado Springs and Limon, not common (Aiken), Baca 
co., very common (Warren), Routt co., rare (Warren), Grand Junction 
common resident (Rockwell), Cortez (Gilman) and La Plata co., common 
(Morrison). 
Habits.—This little Owl presents a very remarkable 
departure from the habits of all other Owls. It inhabits 
the treeless plains, it is more or less gregarious, and it 
nests in burrows underground. As is well known, it 
is often found associated with prairie-dogs and rattle- 
snakes, but the old idea of the three living together in 
perfect amity has been long since dispelled. As a rule 
certainly, perhaps invariably, the Owl only takes up 
its abode in deserted burrows, and these partioular ones 
can nearly always be detected by the litter and filth 
strewed near the entrance. 
This Owl is quite diurnal in habits, and often stands 
on the little mound by the side of its hole. Here it can 
be noticed bowing and dipping, by the passer-by. In 
other parts of its range it inhabits badger, skunk or 
spermophiles’ holes, and it is said that occasionally it 
burrows for itself. Bendire, at any rate, watched it 
enlarging one. It hunts chiefly in the evening and at 
night, preying on young prairie-dogs and small mammals, 
but more often, judging by Fisher’s researches, on grass- 
hoppers and beetles. It seldom catches birds, though 
Gale found the remains of a Horned Lark in a burrow 
examined by him. 
The nest is a rounded chamber, about two to three 
feet below the surface, and is approached by a curved 
or straight passage of from four to five feet long. Gale 
