177 
HORNED OWLS, ETC. 
rodents and seldom touches insectivorous birds.’ As it is easily 
destroyed, he says it is the owl that suffers most when short-sighted 
legislators enact laws for the destruction of birds of prey. 
367. Asio accipitrinus (Pall.). Short-eared Owl. 
Adults. Ear tufts inconspicuous ; eyes with black ring and white eye¬ 
brows ; body varying from yellowish brown 
to buffy white, conspicuously streaked with 
dark brown; wings and tail irregularly 
banded with dark brown and buffy or yel¬ 
lowish brown. Young: face brownish 
black, under parts plain dull buffy, tinged 
with gray in front; upper parts dark 
brown, the feathers tipped with yellowish 
brown. Length: 13.80-16.75, wing 11.80- 
13.00, tail 5.80-6.10, bill .60-.65. 
Distribution. — Entire western hemi¬ 
sphere except Galapagos Islands and part 
of the West Indies; also nearly throughout 
the eastern hemisphere, excepting Austra¬ 
lia. Breeds in the United States irregu¬ 
larly and locally from about latitude 39° 
northward. 
Nest. — Of coarse grass and sticks, loosely 
put together, and sparsely lined with fine 
material and feathers of the bird. Eggs: 4 to 7, white. 
Food. — Largely mice; also gophers, shrews, rabbits, grasshoppers, 
crickets, and beetles. 
From Biological Survey, U. S. Dept, 
of Agriculture. 
Fig. 244. 
The habits of the short-eared owl are quite unique. While most 
owls live in trees and woods this bird rarely lights in a tree, making 
its home in the open country, coast marshes, and islands covered 
with bushes and high grass. It hides in the grass on bright days, 
but in cloudy weather often hunts in the morning and evening or 
even the middle of the day, flying low over the ground in its search 
for gophers, mice-, and grasshoppers, when its long wings make it 
seem very large. On the salt marshes of Gray’s Harbor, where Mr. 
Lawrence found the owls flying about commonly in misty weather, 
he says they looked ‘as big as eagles.’ There, he says, they sat 
on the edges of the sloughs watching for rats. When flying high, 
sporting, or chasing some large bird, he heard them give a shrill 
barking call like the ki-yi of a small dog. 
GENUS SYRNIUM. 
General Characters. — Wing 12-15, rounded; no ear tufts ; ear opening 
large and with a distinct anterior flap, the two ears conspicuously differ¬ 
ent ; tip of toe exposed. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Head and neck barred. 
2. Upper parts dark brown. nebulosum, p. 178. 
2'. Upper parts pale yellowish brown .... helveolum, p. 178. 
