The Burrowing Owl 
Taken in 
San Bernardino 
County 
Photo by 
Wright M. Pierce 
spaced evenly. The tunnel has more or 
less of the same material scattered 
throughout its length, and a certain 
amount distributed over the external 
mound is a necessary 
evidence of occupation. 
This is the approved 
form of upholstery, but 
some naughty birds near 
Dos Palos are indulging 
a more expensive fancy. 
Here, in three instances, 
we found tunnels lined 
copiously with wings of 
the Black Tern ( Hydro- 
chelidon nigra surinam- 
ensis ), and no less than 
a dozen pairs of these 
gruesome mementoes 
scattered about each 
front yard. This habit 
is doubtless quite excep¬ 
tional, and due to the 
special temptations of the immediate neighborhood. One need not kill 
these Owls to learn what else they feed upon, for half-eaten mice, dis¬ 
membered frogs and headless snakes litter the floor, and invite the 
offices of the far-venturing blow-fly. Fleas usually abound; and alto¬ 
gether the nuptial chamber of this doughty troglodyte is not an inviting 
place. 
From six to eleven young are raised in a single brood; and when we 
consider that the adults themselves require more than their own weight 
of animal food daily, we begin to form some conception of the economic 
importance of these birds. Their food includes all the baneful rout of 
rodents, and they are able to kill ground squirrels of a size equal to their 
own. Besides these, lizards, frogs, snakes, and even small fish, are cap¬ 
tured. Grasshoppers and crickets, as well as beetles of many sorts, are 
staple food, and for these the bird hunts by day as well as by night. In 
the pursuit of prey, however, the birds become much more active at 
sunset, when they may be seen flitting about on noiseless wing, or else 
hovering in mid air above a suspected spot, after the well known fashion 
of the Sparrow Hawk. Small game is snatched from the ground without 
lighting, but in capturing a ground squirrel, the bird first plants his talons 
A PAIR OF BURROWING OWLS 
1124. 
