THE NATURALIST AND COLLECTOR 
55 
of the .South. This owl feeds largely 
on the cotton rat. a mammal of de¬ 
structive habits found abundantly in 
the bottomlands and near water. The 
common rat also is greedily devoured. 
The barred owl is one of the larger 
common species in Eastern North 
America. It has the reputation of be¬ 
ing very destructive to poultry, but 
this is not justified, though it does 
sometimes eat chickens. It is a can¬ 
nibal, frequently eating smaller owls. 
It is fond of crawfish, frogs and fish. 
The little screech owl is well known 
throughout the greater part of the 
United States. It is a diligent mouser 
and feeds extensively on insects. Also 
it is fond of crawfish, frogs, toads, 
scorpions, lizards and fish. Among in¬ 
sects, grasshoppers, crickets, beetles 
and cutworms are most often eaten. 
The screech owl catches many fish, es¬ 
pecially in winter, when it watches 
near the breathing holes in the ice and 
seizes the luckless prey that comes .to 
the surface. 
The snowy owl is a large Arctic 
species which in winter occasionly oc¬ 
curs in considerable numbers in the 
United States. It does great good in 
destroying noxious mammals, includ¬ 
ing meadow mice and the common rat. 
This useful bird is slaughtered in great 
numbers whenever it appears. As 
many as 500 were killed in New Eng¬ 
land during the winter of 1876-7. 
Although the little burrowing owl 
is pre-eminently an insect eater, it also 
feeds on small mammals and rarely on 
birds. It is common throughout the 
plains of the West. During the warm 
months it feeds almost exclusively on 
insects and scorpions. The latter it 
picks up by scores, sometimes leaving 
a quart or more of heads, claws and 
tails of scorpions at a place of banquet. 
It takes grasshoppers, crickets, beetles 
and caterpillars in large quantities. 
The burrowing owl is a beautiful harm¬ 
less bird, and ought to be protected by 
law. 
The large and handsome ‘-great- 
horned owl” is found throughout the 
United States where suitable timber 
exists for its habitation. It is an im¬ 
portant ally of the ranchman in fight¬ 
ing the hordes of ground squirrels, 
gophers, prairie dogs, rabbits and 
other rodents which infest his fields 
and ranges. In regions where rabbits 
and squirrels are scarce it frequently 
makes inroads among fowls. As 
many as 100 rats have been found 
under one of its nests. The great¬ 
horned owl does a vast amount of good 
and, if farmers could be induced to 
shut up their chickens at night in¬ 
stead of allowing them to shelter in 
trees and in other exposed places, the 
principal damage done by this bird 1 - 
would be prevented.— Selected. 
