BIRDS OF PREY 



(367) Asio flammeus 



(Poiil.) (Lat., reddish). 



SHORT-EARED OWL; MARSH 

 OWL. Ear tufts very small and 

 inconspicuous. Plumage as shown, 

 the general tone being tawny — much 

 lighter than that of the last species. 

 The markings below are all streaks 

 — no crossbars. The facial disc 

 is largely whitish. L., 15.50; Ex., 

 41.00; W., 12.00; T., 6.00; Tar., 

 1.50. Nest — Usually built on the 

 ground in marshes or meadows; 

 sometimes in burrows; a slight hollow, 

 lined with a few grasses; four to seven, 

 dull white eggs, 1.55 x 1.25. 



Range — Nearly cosmopolitan. 

 Breeds locally from the Arctic coast 

 south to Mass., Ind., Mo. and Cal. 

 Winters from its southern breeding 

 range southward. 



States, but migratory in Canada. As they are almost en- 

 tirely nocturnal and never hunt during daylight, they may be 

 fairly abundant in a locality and their presence not suspected 

 by any not acquainted with their habits and cahs. They 

 are rather silent except during the breeding season, which is 

 during April or May, according to locality; at this season 

 they utter several notes, the most common and distinctive of 

 which, according to Bendire, is a soft-toned "wo-hunk," 

 repeated slowly several times; they also give a short twitter- 

 ing or trilling whistle. 



Their eggs are nearly always deposited in old crow nests, 

 which are repaired by adding a little grass for lining and some 

 feathers, the latter nearly always showing from the ground. 

 Often the female will remain on the nest even though the 

 base of the tree be jarred considerably. Several times they 

 have still been covering the eggs when I climbed the tree and 

 looked over the brim of the nest; I would no sooner get sight 

 of the little round face, with the long, erect ears, than she 

 would silently flit away for some distance. 



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