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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



species that pass southward in numbers. 



Regardless always of temperature, the 

 hawk owl begins its nesting season in April 

 and early May, even in the high latitude of 

 Great Slave Lake, at a season when ice and 

 snow abound and the weather is still ex- 

 treme. A nest of twigs is built in a pine or 

 spruce, or, failing this, the eggs are placed 

 on decayed wood on the summit of a broken 

 stub or stump. Intruders in the home do- 

 main are attacked without hesitation, and 

 many naturalists have had hats knocked off 

 by parent owls when climbing to their nests. 

 The birds' sharp claws are to be respected, 

 as they can easily gash the skin. 



The hawk owl subsists mainly on mice 

 and lemmings. It eats insects in summer 

 and also kills birds the size of a ptarmigan. 



The American hawk owl breeds from 

 northwestern Alaska and Hudson Strait 

 south to southern British Columbia and 

 the Ungava region. It winters south into 

 the southern Canadian Provinces, casually 

 across the border in the northern United 

 States. The Siberian hawk owl (Surnia u. 

 pallasi) has been taken twice in Alaska. 

 Other races of this bird are found across 

 Siberia and northern Europe. 



Burrowing Owl 



(Speotyto cunicularia) 



During travel through the open plains 

 and desert areas of the West, small owls with 

 long legs and round heads are often seen 

 resting on the ground, perhaps on a little 

 mound of earth (see page 237). 



Approach them and they watch atten- 

 tively, bobbing their heads gravely, or 

 crouch as if about to fly. At the last mo- 

 ment, instead of taking wing, they turn tail 

 and dash precipitately into a hole in the 

 earth, hitherto unnoticed, and disappear be- 

 low ground in a most astonishing and unor- 

 thodox escape for owl or any ordinary bird. 

 On other occasions the burrowing owl rests 

 on posts, poles, or in low trees, and flies 

 away to safety in usual owl fashion. 



These owls regularly use old burrows of 

 prairie dogs and other small mammals as 

 their homes, but when these are not avail- 

 able they dig shelters of their own. The 

 form found on the open prairies of Florida 

 must regularly excavate its own homes, as do 

 the related forms of the West Indian islands, 

 since there are no other burrowing animals 

 of proper size to supply them with domiciles. 



According to one amusing western story, 

 prairie dogs, burrowing owls, and prairie 



rattlesnakes live in amity all in the same 

 burrow, each with its own little lateral com- 

 partment off the main tunnel leading down 

 from the entrance. The tale is more roman- 

 tic than probable, as the three are hardly 

 compatible, both rattlesnake and owl being 

 partial to young prairie dogs and possibly 

 also to the flesh of one another. Should all 

 three be found in one prairie dog burrow, 

 this is due to necessity for haste in con- 

 cealment and not to any preference for one 

 another's company. 



The burrowing owl nests in the holes that 

 it inhabits, and its young do not venture far 

 from the burrow opening until they are well 

 able to fly. During the warmer weather 

 these owls subsist largely on insects, espe- 

 cially grasshoppers and beetles. 



In late summer, in the plains regions, 

 grasshoppers form the bulk of their food, 

 arid in locust years, when these destructive 

 insects abound, the owls eat little else. They 

 also feed on mice, rats, and lizards, and on 

 occasion eat small birds. 



One that I kept as a captive was fond of 

 garter snakes, seizing them, pinching them 

 with the bill all along the body, and then 

 swallowing them headfirst. Ordinarily the 

 snake was too long for all of it to be swal- 

 lowed at once, and the owl stood about for 

 an hour with a few inches of the snake's 

 tail drooping from the corner of its mouth 

 until digestion made room for all inside. 



In the level pampas of Uruguay the 

 Gauchos told me that the body of this owl, 

 if eaten by convalescent invalids, promoted 

 appetite for other food. 



The ordinary call of this little owl is a 

 loud boo boo boo, and it has various chat- 

 tering notes. Though active at night, it is 

 regularly abroad by day, being able to see 

 in bright sunlight without difficulty. My 

 captive bird, by watching intently, often 

 brought to my notice soaring hawks so dis- 

 tant that they were mere specks in the sky. 



Throughout the West these interesting 

 birds are known as "billy owls" or "prairie 

 dog owls." The western burrowing owl 

 {Speotyto cunicularia hypugaea) is found 

 in the treeless districts of the West from 

 British Columbia and Manitoba south to 

 western Iowa, Louisiana, and Panama. The 

 Florida burrowing owl {Speotyto c. fiori- 

 dana), darker in color, ranges in the prairie 

 region of central and southern Florida. Re- 

 lated races are found in the Bahamas, His- 

 paniola and other West Indian islands, and 

 in South America. 



