48 
The Short-Eared Owl 
sexes, but the female is somewhat darker than the male. Owing to its 
long wings the bird looks, when flying, much larger than it actually is. j 
Most Owls feed more or less on small birds, and some, as the Great i 
Horned, are so destructive in this way as almost to warrant their killing. 
The Short-eared is in this respect the best of the family, and all the evi- 
dence that is available points conclusively to its very high economic 
value, since, from all the data available, this Owl has about the cleanest 
record of any of the Raptores. Its food consists almost exclusively of 
mice, shrews, gophers, and other small rodents, with an occasional insect. 
From material gathered by the Biological Survey it appears that of one 
hundred and one stomachs examined seventy-seven contained mice, seven 
others mammals, seven insects, and only eleven contained traces of small 
birds. The examination of other stomachs showed that all contained 
the remains of mice or insects, and no remains : 
Houser birds. This Owl being a great destroyer of ■ 
small mammals, which are such a costly nuisance 
to the agriculturist, is deserving of the greatest protection, and should 
be especially included in all bird-protective measures. 
Classification and Distribution 
The Short-eared Owl belongs to the Order Raptores, Suborder Striges and i 
Family Strigidce; its scientific name is Asio Uammeus. It is nearly cosmopolitan, 
an almost identical species being found in the Old World. In America its range 
is given as breeding irregularly from the Arctic Coasts south to California, Colo- 
rado, southern Kansas, northern Indiana and Massachusetts ; wintering from Cali- 
fornia, Wyoming, Ohio and Massachusetts south to Cuba and Guatemala. 
This and other Educational Leaflets are for sale, at 2 cents each, by the National Association of 
Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Lists given on request. 
