various sizes and shapes that commonly occur. The center one is perhaps the most frequently observed 
pattern. One specimen shows several little irregularities in the formation of the shell. 
The first nest of the Short-eared Owl that I ever found was on March 23d, 1878. It was in a piece 
of marshy land two miles from Circleville. I had just killed a Snipe, and was looking for the dead 
bird, when, right at my feet, a Short-eared Owl flew up and soared in the air high above me. Having- 
recovered from my surprise, I looked down, and there were four eggs lying in a little depression where 
the grass had been eaten away by some cattle that were grazing in the field. A few feet away the 
ground was some inches lower and very wet. Having done the eggs up in my handkerchief, I remained 
some minutes to watch the Owl, which continued circling around the spot, some hundred feet overhead. 
Finally, she alighted in a distant part of the prairie, and I proceeded on my way. Several more Owls 
were flushed during the next half-hour, each of which made long-continued circular flights before alight- 
ing. The following day I hunted for Owl-nests over the. same ground, and found a second one in a 
burrow, about a foot within the entrance, containing three eggs. 
The food of these Owls consists principally of mice, and consequently they frequent the grassy marsh- 
lands in which the field-mice delight. Judging from the remains seen, vast numbers of mice must be 
destroyed by them. Last spring, 1882, I found a few pairs of Owls in a small piece of wet grass-land, 
and upon nearly every square foot of the ground were balls of indigestible mouse-hair and bones, which 
had been ejected, after the fashion of the Owl. 
The Short-eared Owl, like others of the family, bolt their food. Having, captured their prey, it is 
at once swallowed whole, if not too large. This leaves to the stomach the office of masticating, as well 
as digesting and appropriating every thing but hairs, leathers, and larger bones. The refuse is rolled 
together into a ball, by the natural motions of the stomach, and then disgorged. The stomach of a well- 
fed Short-eared Owl is a curious sight. It is sometimes so filled with indigestible things that it is 
quite prominent, and, upon dissection, a; handful of wads of hair and hones may be taken out. 
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