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OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE WISCONSIN, ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN AUDUBON SOCIETIES 
One Year 25 Cents Single Copy 5 Cents 
Published by the Wisconsin Audubon Society at Madison, Wisconsin 
Entered as second class matter August 23, 1909, at Madison, Wis., under the act of Congress of March 3. 1879 
VOL. XIV DECEMBER, 1912 NO. 4 
THE SHORT-EARED OWL 
The woods are leafless, the rivers, 
lakes and marshes frozen; the fields 
\ and hillsides covered with snow; to 
many bird friends the situation seems 
barren and observation fruitless. But 
it is at such times that I have learned 
most of the short eared owls. Asio 
: flammeus, the fiery, eared owl, is the 
name which ornithologists have given 
it. The ear tufts or horns are very in¬ 
conspicuous and you will probably 
i have to look twice to see them, but the 
i glances which it bestows upon you, if 
| you can only get close enough to see 
the expression of the yellow iris, cer- 
I tainly make the species name appropri- 
j ate. 
j It may be distinguished from the 
1 other owls by its general coloration of 
1 tawny and brown and especially by 
the fact that its belly is streaked and 
not barred or otherwise patterned. 
The length which it is said to attain is 
j placed at about fifteen inches. 
The short-eared owl. which in south¬ 
ern Wisconsin is a resident throughout 
J # # 
the year, is one of the winter birds 
whose presence in a particular marsh 
near my home I always keenly appre¬ 
ciate. When the rays of the winter 
sun begin to cast long shadows, these 
owls begin to bestir themselves. At 
first they do not undertake long flights, 
but perch on stumps or other emi¬ 
nences. From such a point of vantage 
they survey the immediate vicinity 
with their sharp alert eyes. But as the 
day grows feebler, they become more 
active till at dusk they are on their 
noiseless patrol of the marsh. Woe 
then to the unsuspecting field mouse. 
Should the owl pass his way, a swift 
silent swoop, a thrust of the claws, and 
the creature is borne away to some 
perch, it may be a muskrat house, 
stump, or even a heap of hay left from 
the summer’s cutting, where the owl 
can make his meal in comfort. Then 
the search for more mice is renewed. 
With nightfall, one loses them, but on 
moonlight nights one can follow them 
fairly well. Now their shrill cry is 
heard first from this side of the marsh, 
then from that and occasionally a 
shadowy form glides in and then out 
of the observer’s range of vision. 
