HORNED OWLS, ETC.: SHORT-EARED OWL 
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September 28, 1913 (Bone). A pair was noted at Perico, December 20, 1893 (Seton); 
one was noted in the vicinity of the Carlsbad Bird Reserve in January, 1915 (Willett). 
[A pair was noted near Gallup, September 30, 1916 (Skinner).] The species is 
included in Henry’s list of the birds noted in New Mexico during the years from 
From Biological Survey 
Fig. 55. Short-eared Owl 
A good mouser, both by day and by night 
1853 to 1859. These are the only records of the Short-eared Owl in the State, but 
it is probably more common than the meager reports would indicate, for it is a well- 
known winter resident in all the country surrounding New Mexico.—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —Usually a slight depression in the ground, lined with dry grass and 
feathers and hidden by the surrounding vegetation. Eggs: 4 to 7, white. 
Food. —Fully 75 per cent mice, but also other small mammals, as shrews, gophers, 
small rabbits, and bats, together with some birds, amphibians, reptiles, crustaceans, 
scorpions, and insects, including grasshoppers, May beetles, and cutworms. Has 
frequently helped in suppression of vole plagues in Europe. 
General Habits. —As the Short-eared Owl is partially diurnal and 
a bird of the open country, it should be easily found. As I learned in 
North Dakota, it may be flushed from a grassy marsh, discovered 
silently watching you from the ground, from a fence post, or telephone 
pole; or seen flying on wide brown wings over brushy flats where it may 
surprise its furry prey. A pair which were flushed by Mr. Skinner in 
