HORNED OWLS, ETC. 
189 
ing again as it seeks another perch. The note is a shrill cry which 
is uttered generally while the bird is on the wing.” (Fisher.) 
GENUS SPEOTYTO. 
378. Speotyto cunicularia hypogsea ( Bonap .). Burrowing 
Owl. 
Tail only about half as long as wing; tarsus more than twice as long as 
middle toe, scantily feathered in front, bare 
behind; toes bristly. 
Adults .— Upper parts dull earth brown, 
spotted and barred with white and huffy; 
under parts mainly buffy barred with brown. 
Young: under parts mainly buffy, unmarked ; 
upper parts plain brown except wings and 
tail, which are as in adults. Length: 9-11, 
wing 5.80-7.20, tail 3.15-3.50, bill .55-.60. 
Distribution. — Plains region from the 
Pacific east to Dakota and Texas, and from 
British Columbia and eastern slope of Rocky 
Mountains south to Guatemala. 
Nest .—At the end of an old burrow of 
prairie dog, badger, or ground squirrel, or in 
a similar cavity. Eggs: 6 to 11, white. 
Food. — Ground squirrels, young prairie 
dogs, mice, gophers, small birds, frogs, liz- 
1'roni Biological Survey, U. S. Dept, 
ot Agriculture. 
Fig. 252. 
ards, horned toads, and even fish, together with crickets, grasshoppers, 
beetles, scorpions, and centipeds. 
When you are living in the owls’ country, they, like the ground 
squirrels and prairie dogs, come to seem a part of the landscape, and 
as you ride over the great brown stretches you find yourself looking 
for the quaint little ‘ Billy owls ’ for life and interest on the mono¬ 
tonous way. In a region where there are only scattered holes suit¬ 
able for their nests, solitary owls or families are most often seen, and 
sometimes there will be as many as nine around one burrow. But 
where a ground squirrel colony or prairie dog town offers good nest 
holes the little owls gather in companies. 
In dog towns they often find spacious old badger holes to occupy. 
As you walk about one of the towns and the dogs lope off to their 
holes shaking their little yellow tails as they disappear, the owls 
stand statue-like around their burrows with their eyes upon you. If 
you are bent on getting within good photographing range the young 
ones will go backing down their holes, their solemn round yellow 
eyes fixed on yours till they drop below the earth line. Their elders 
will probably fly before you get your focus, though it is only a low 
short flight to a neighboring mound. It rarely seems to occur to 
them to leave the town. 
The association of owls, dogs, badgers, and rattlesnakes is far from 
being that of the happy family circle it was formerly supposed. The 
