The Short-Eared Owl 
47 
Manner 
of Flight 
lives manages to conceal itself effectively in the grass and bushes of his 
chosen marsh. Unlike other Owls, the Short-eared is quite diurnal, hunt- 
ing in the daytime, especially on dark, cloudy days. The flight is usually 
close to the ground, is very easy and graceful, 
and absolutely without noise. Coursing along the 
tops of the grass and bushes, this Owl reminds 
one greatly of the Marsh Hawk, though the wing-beats are more rapid. 
Once the prey is sighted or heard, a drop of incredible quickness is made, 
the victim is seized with scarcely a cessation of onward movement, and 
devoured at some favorite perch. 
As one would expect from the desolate places in which it makes 
its home, the Short-eared Owl has an almost untamable nature. William 
Dutcher had one captive for some time, and writes of it as follows : 
“It was confined in a large box with a wire front, at first in the open 
air and, subsequently, in a lighted cellar. Every effort was made to tame 
its wildness by handling it with the greatest gentleness and never ap- 
proaching it abruptly. No measure of success attended the effort ; on 
the contrary, the Owl seemed to grow wilder and more excitable when 
approached. A visitor was always saluted with a series of violent hisses, 
accompanied by a ruffling of the feathers over the 
whole body. The hisses were often followed by a 
violent snapping of the mandibles, which was 
continued for some time, especially if food was not given. Once the 
process of disgorging a pellet was observed. The Owl was about to be 
fed, when it commenced a series of contortions which seemed to involve 
the whole body. Three of these movements or contortions took place, 
then a pellet was thrown from the Owl’s mouth. It was nearly two 
inches long, and about three-quarters of an inch in diameter.” 
The habit of disgorging the skin, bones and hair of the animals on 
which it feeds is characteristic of the Owl-tribe, and affords the student 
the best means of identifying the food. When one finds an Owl-roost, 
many interesting facts as to the habits of the birds may be deduced from 
the debris thus cast off. 
Behavior in 
Captivity 
The Short-eared is an exception to the Owl family in another re- 
spect. Most Owls are resident where found, but 
this species is decidedly migratory in its habits, Migration 
wandering in the winter as far south as Cuba and 
Guatemala. Frequently large flocks will gather at that season where 
food is plentiful, as many as fifty individuals having been found winter- 
ing together. 
In appearance this Owl is a handsome bird. Its common name is 
very misleading, however, for the ear-tufts are quite inconspicuous. 
Both birds are tawny brown, marked conspicuously with stripes of vary- 
ing shades of brown on the breast, the back and wings having a mottled 
appearance. The usual radial mask about the eyes is present in. both 
