BIRDS OF PREY, 549 
mice 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. hypogea) consorts with the prairie dogs and 
rattlesnakes, nesting in the holes when deserted. ‘Their 
rusty, dull hues assimilate them with the color of the soil 
they inhabit. Our largest owl is the great gray owl (Syr- 
nium cinereum) ; it isnearly 2 metre (23 feet) in length, and 
Fig. 473.—Carolina Parroquet.—From Tenney’s Zoology. 
is an inhabitant of Arctic America. A visitor in winter 
rom the Arctic regions is the snowy owl (Wyctea nivea), 
which is nearly 2 m., or two feet long. The great horned 
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 
