154 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



Pocket, near Grove Oak, November 2 to 4, 1916, I heard the 

 birds calling every evening. 



The breeding season begins in mid-vsrinter, incubated eggs 

 having been taken by Golsan at Prattville, January 30, 1897. 

 Dr. Avery records an instance of a young bird having fallen 

 from a tree to the ground, January 23, 1890, probably thrown 

 from its nest as the parent bird flew off. 



General habits. — This owl, the largest and most powerful 

 of the American species, dwells in deep swamps and other 

 secluded places in heavily timbered regions. It is rather 

 solitary in habit, and usually two pairs are not found in close 

 proximity. It is chiefly nocturnal, spending the day in a 

 thick evergreen or a hollow tree, and is rarely seen abroad 

 by daylight except on cloudy days. Its eyesight is by no means 

 deficient and it is usually on the alert to escape from human 

 enemies. At times, however, it may be approached within 

 gunshot. 



Chapman describes the usual call note of the great horned 

 owl as "a loud, deep-toned whoo, hoo-hoo-hoo, whooo, whooo. 

 The syllables are all on the same note, and bear some resem- 

 blance to a bass-voiced dog barking in the distance."* The 

 eggs of this species are deposited in hollow trees or in old 

 nests of hawks or crows. 



Food habits. — In the West, this owl is considered an ally of 

 the farmer by reason of its destruction of ground squirrels, 

 pocket gophers, prairie dogs, rabbits, and other rodents ; but 

 in the East, where injurious wild mammals are relatively 

 scarce, it turns its attention to poultry and game birds and 

 often does considerable damage. It destroys also insects 

 (such as grasshoppers and beetles), scorpions, crawfish, fish, 

 and a few small birds. 



BURROWING OWL: Speotyto cunicularia hypugaea 

 (Bonaparte) . 



State records. — The burrowing owl is an inhabitant of the 

 western prairies, ranging east to East Feliciana and Plaque- 

 mine Parishes, Louisiana. A related subspecies (floridana) 



•Chapman, F. M., Handbook of birds o£ eastern North America, p. 315, 1912. 



