376 • THE SHORT-EARED OWL. 



he had been about forty times bigger yet ! He wore my cap gracefully enough 

 until we got down on the ground where we could hobnob in the open. There 

 he nibbled meditatively at the vizor of his cap-cage, and mumbled incoherent 

 little bad words between his teeth. Anger is always amusing — except perhaps 

 in the case of one's own irate parents — the younger and more helpless the em- 

 bodiment of it, the more ridiculous it is. 



The food of the Long-eared Owl is largely mice and other rodents. Altho 

 it does make an occasional levy on the small-bird population, it deserves the 

 strictest protection on account of its overbalancing services. 



No. 164. 



SHORT-EARED OWL. 



A. O. U. No. 367. Asio accipitrinus (Pall.). 



Description. — Adults: Ear-tufts very short — scarcely noticeable; entire 

 plumage, except facial disk, nearly uniform buff, ochraceous-buff or cream-buff, 

 striped or mottled with dark brown, — heavily above and on breast, the stripes 

 becoming more narrow on belly and disappearing altogether on legs and crissum ; 

 edge of wing white ; the wing-quills and tail-feathers broadly barred with brownish 

 dusky; the facial disk gray centrally, with black around each eye and on the bridge; 

 bill and toe-nails dusky blue; eyes yellow; ear-opening enormous, but fully con- 

 cealed ; the wings fold just beyond the tail. Immature : Dark brown with ochra- 

 ceous tips above ; brownish-black face, and unstriped under parts. Length 14.00- 

 16.75 (35S.6-42S-S) ; wing 12.00-13.00 (304.8-330.2) ; tail 5-50-6.25 (139.7-158.8) ; 

 bill (chord of culmen) about i.oo (25.4) ; tarsus 1.75 (44.5). Adult female 

 larger than male. The preceding measurements include both sexes. 



Recognition Marks. — Little Hawk to Crow size; general streaked appear- 

 ance, dark brown on buff ; inconspicuous ear-tufts ; semi-terrestrial habits. 



Nest, on the ground or at the end of a short, under-ground tunnel; a few 

 sticks, grass, and feathers mark the spot, or else the bird lays on the bare earth. 

 Eggs, 4-6, sometimes 7, white, subspherical. Av. size, 1.57 x 1.23 (39.9 x 31.2). 



General Range. — Throughout North America ; nearly cosmopolitan. Breeds 

 somewhat irregularly and locally, from about latitude 39° northward. 



Range in Ohio.^ — Not common resident, and northern visitor; locally abun- 

 dant in winter. A few have been known to breed. 



AN equitable distribution of territory has been made between this bird 

 and his kinsman, the Long-eared Owl. The latter has chosen the woods 

 and the thickets for his hunting groomd, while the Short-eared Owl roams 

 the meadows and open fens. Moreover, the other bird hunts by night, while 

 this one is abroad regularly and chiefly in the daytime. Let no one suppose 

 that because the bird under consideration has abbreviated ear-tufts, he is 



