The American Barn Owl 



Authorities. — Gambel (Strix pratincola), Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., vol. iii., 

 1846, p. 47 (Calif.); Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., ser. 2, i., 1847, p. 28 (Calif.; distr. 

 syn., habits, etc.); Fisher, Hawks and Owls of the U. S., 1893, p. 132, pi. 19 (food); 

 Miller, Condor, vol. xii., 1910, p. 12 (fossil); Tyler, Condor, vol. xvii, 1915, p. 57 (San 

 Joaquin Valley; nest, food, habits, etc.). 



IF ABILITY and worth are to count for anything, the Barn Owl, 

 and not the Moon, ought to be the Queen of the Night. Whoever thought 

 of calling the blear-eyed old man in the moon a "queen" anyhow? Not 

 to mention the mistake in sex, his derelictions are notorious. He is off 

 the job half the time, though he manages to keep the world in the dark 

 as to his misdoings in absentia. He is an inveterate tippler, — that we 

 know. I have myself seen him "take a horn" — two of them, in fact. 

 And that he goes on a spree and gets full every month is the scandal of 

 the heavens. He rises at irregular hours, and for days after the big 

 debauch his friend Phoebus has to help him to bed. Away with this 

 tradition of moonly virtues! 



Taken in San Bernardino County 



THE SIESTA 



NOTE GRADATION IN SIZE OF THESE INFANTS 



Photo by Pierce 



IO/I 



