328 
BURROWING OWL. 
and settle down again at a short distance ; if further disturbed, 
their flight is continued until they are no longer in view, or 
they descend into their dwellings, whence they are difficult 
to dislodge. 
The burrows into which these owls have been seen to des- 
cend, on the plains of the river Platte, where they are most 
numerous, were evidently excavated by the marmot; whence it 
has been inferred by Say, that they were either common, though 
unfriendly residents of the same habitation, or that our owl 
was the sole occupant of a burrow acquired by the right of 
conquest. The evidence of this was clearly presented by the 
ruinous condition of the burrows tenanted by the owl, which 
were frequently caved in, and their sides channelled by the 
rains, while the neat and well preserved mansion of the mar- 
mot showed the active care of a skilful and industrious owner. 
We have no evidence that the owl and marmot habitually re- 
sort to one burrow, yet we are well assured by Pike and others, 
that a common danger often drives them into the same exca- 
vation, where lizards and rattlesnakes also enter for conceal- 
ment and safety. 
The owl observed by Vieillot in St Domingo digs itself a 
burrow two feet in depth, at the bottom of which its eggs are 
deposited on a bed of moss, herb stalks, and dried roots. These 
eggs are two in number, of a very pure white, nearly spheroi- 
dal, and about as large as those of the dove. When the young 
are only covered with down, they frequently ascend to the en- 
trance to enjoy the warmth of the sun, but as soon as they are 
approached, they quickly retire into the burrow. 
The note of our bird is strikingly similar to the cry of the 
marmot, which sounds like cheh^ cheh^ pronounced several 
times in rapid succession ; and were it not that the burrowing 
owls of the West Indies, where no marmots exist, utter the 
same sound, it might be inferred, that the marmot was the 
unintentional tutor to the young owl : this cry is only uttered 
as the bird begins its flight. Vieillot states that the burrowing 
owl inhabiting St Domingo, sometimes alights on farm-houses 
