The Economic Value of Birds of Prey. 
II.—The Owls. 
BY WILLIAM L. FINLEY. 
With Photographs from Life by Herman T. Bohlman 
and Wm. L. Finley. 
As a family the owls are among the most 
beneficial of all birds from the economic stand¬ 
point of the agriculturalist. With few exceptions 
the owls are largely nocturnal. Their eyes and 
ears are remarkably developed, and are keenest 
in the early hours of the night and morning. 
Many harmful rodents are most active in their 
search for food during the night, and the owls 
are the natural check for this multitude. The 
hawk hunts by day and the owl by night and the 
work of one supplements that of the other. 
The little screech owl is perhaps best known in 
all parts of the country for its indefatigable work 
in destroying mice alid insects. During the day 
this owl likes to sleep in the Hollow of some old 
tree, at times it takes refuge in the thick foliage, 
where it is generally spied by some songster dur¬ 
ing the day. The fact is soon made public in the 
bird world, for at the cry of “Owl!’’ I have often 
seen a dozen different birds gather around in a 
few moments to take a hand in the “ousting.” 
Robins and bluejays are the greatest bane in the 
owl’s life, and for this reason he has to keep 
hidden during the day. 
The screech owl has seldom been known to 
attack poultry. Out of 255 stomachs of this 
CALIFORNIA SCREECH OWL. 
species examined by the Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, only one contained the remains of a domestic 
fowl. But often this bird has been found feed¬ 
ing on cut-worms and caterpillars, and at times 
they are certainly efficient in destroying this pest. 
We found the burrowing owl common through 
California and southern and eastern Oregon, and 
this species is more destructive to noxious in¬ 
sects and rodents than any other owl. The 26th 
of last June we found three different nests of 
the burrowing owl in adjoining fields in Klamath 
county, southern Oregon. At the mouth of each 
burrow we found a matted mass of fur and small 
bones that I think would have filled a bushel 
basket. We dug down for four feet and found 
five young owls almost full grown. The old owl 
kept flying about and lighting on the fence posts, 
and occasionally she would swoop down within 
a few feet of our heads. Only one owl appeared 
about the nests and where the other parents were 
I do not know. Two of the burrows each con¬ 
tained five grown birds and the other was per¬ 
haps filled with the same number. The actual 
amount of food a pair of these birds require to 
rear a family must be enormous. Captain Ben- 
dire relates some interesting experiments with 
these owls. 
“I have at different times, kept some of these 
birds in confinement for a week or more and fed 
them on Townsend’s ground squirrels, an animal 
weighing more than this owl. These were caught 
alive, and absolutely uninjured, in wire traps 
baited with carrots, and turned loose in a room 
where the owls were kept; first, to see if they 
would actually kill rodents of this size, and, 
second, to find out how much they would eat 
in a day. To test both, I fed a pair of these owls 
four live, full-grown Townsend’s ground squirrels 
in one day, besides the carcasses of five small 
birds which had been skinned, and was astonished 
at the ease and celerity with which these rodents 
were killed and the small amount of resistance 
they made. I watched the proceedings through a 
small hole in the door. As soon as a squirrel 
was turned loose ip the room with the owls, one 
of them would pounce on it, and, fastening its 
sharp talons firmly in the back of the squirrel, 
spread its wings somewhat, and with a few vigor¬ 
ous and well-directed blows of its beak, break the 
vertebrae of the neck, and before it was fairly 
dead it commenced eating the head. This was 
always eaten first and is the favorite part. Next 
morning there was but little left of the squirrels 
or birds, and the two owls had certainly eaten 
considerably more than their own weight in the 
twenty-four hours. It actually kept one busy to 
supply them with the necessary food they would 
consume, which gives a fair idea of how much 
a family of half-grown young must require. As 
nearly all the food used by them consists of 
noxious vermin, it readily appears what an im¬ 
mensely beneficial bird the burrowing owl is, con¬ 
sidered from an economic point of view, and de¬ 
serving of the fullest protection.” 
One of the commonest birds of prey in California 
is the barn owl, nesting not only in old barns, but 
in towers and attics in the midst of the city, in 
hollow trees along a stream or in small caves in 
the side of a cliff. Years ago one of our neigh¬ 
bors got a pair of pigeons, sawed two holes up 
in the corner of his barn and nailed up a soap 
box. The pigeons disappeared one day, and the 
next spring a pair of barn owls moved in. That 
was seven or eight years ago, but the old dusty 
box in the end of the barn is still rented to the 
same pair. I have no doubt the tenants will 
remain as long as the barn lasts. 
We were anxious to get a series of pictures 
of this owl family, but it was not easy, situated 
as they were in the very peak of the old barn. 
The minute we approached the nest, the old owl 
pitched headlong out the hole and landed in the 
willow tree opposite. We had to climb a ladder 
and swing into the rafters to reach the nest. 
We nailed up a couple of crosspieces strong 
enough to hold a board, then taking the back 
out of the nest-box, we arranged it so it would 
drop down and show the interior or could be 
fastened up at will. Crawling up in a stooped 
position with our camera, we managed to get a 
picture of the eggs. 
A month later w'e climbed up into the gable end 
of the barn and pulled out three of the funniest, 
fuzziest, monkey-faced little brats that it has ever 
been my privilege to set eyes upon. They blinked, 
snapped their bills and hissed like a boxful of 
snakes. We took them to the ground and 
doubled up in laughter at their queer antics. 
They bobbed and screwed around in more funny 
attitudes in a minute than any contortionist I 
ever saw. They were graded in size and height 
as carefully as a carpenter builds the steps of 
a_ staircase, and they were such lumpy looking 
birds. It looked as if some amateur taxidermist 
had taken them in hand and rammed the cotton 
in, wad at a time with a stick, till he had the 
youngsters bulging out in knobs all over. 
We crept out one night and hid in a brush 
heap by the barn. It was not long before the 
scratching and the soft hissing of the young owls 
told us their breakfast time had come. The cur¬ 
tain of the night had fallen. The day creatures 
were at rest. Suddenly a shadow flared across 
the dim-lit sky; there was a soundless sweeping 
of wings as the shadow winnowed back again. 
YOUNG BURROWING OWL. 
