BURROWING OWL. 
71 
tinued until they are no longer in view, or they descend into their 
dwellings, whence they are difficult to dislodge. 
The burrows into which these Owls have been seen to descend, 
on the plains of the river Platte, where they are most numerous, 
were evidently excavated by the Marmot, whence it has been 
inferred by Say, that they were either common, though unfriendly 
residents of the same habitation, or that our Owl was the sole 
occupant of a burrow acquired by the right of conquest. The 
evidence of this was clearly presented by the ruinous condition of 
the burrows tenanted by the Owl, which were frequently caved in, 
and their sides channelled by the rains, while the neat and well 
preserved mansion of the Marmot, showed the active care of a 
skilful and industrious owner. We have no evidence that the Owl 
and Marmot habitually resort to one burrow; yet we are well 
assured by Pike, and others, that a common danger often drives 
them into the same excavation, where lizards and rattlesnakes also 
enter for concealment and safety. 
The Owl observed by Vieillot in St. Domingo digs itself a 
burrow two feet in depth, at the bottom of which its eggs are 
deposited on a bed of moss, herb-stalks, and dried roots. These 
eggs are two in number, of a very pure white, nearly spheroidal, 
and about as large as those of the Dove. When the young are 
only covered with down, they frequently ascend to the entrance to 
enjoy the warmth of the sun, but as soon as they are approached, 
they quickly retire into the burrow. 
The note of our bird is strikingly similar to the cry of the Mar¬ 
mot, which sounds like cheh , cheh , pronounced several times in 
rapid succession; and were it not that the Burrowing Owls of the 
West Indies, where no Marmots exist, utter the same sound, it 
might be inferred, that the Marmot was the unintentional tutor to 
the young Owl: this cry is only uttered as the bird begins its flight. 
Vieillot states that the Burrowing Owl inhabiting St. Domingo, 
sometimes alights on farm-houses at night, and produces a note 
