. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE VIRGINIAN EARED OWL. 963 and this strange society is said also to be augmented by a third member, namely, the rattlesnake. It is now, however, ascertained with tolerable accuracy that the rattlesnake is nothing but a very unwelcome intruder upon the marmot, and, as has been shown by the Hon. G. F. Berkeley's experi- ments, is liable to be attacked and destroyed by the legal owner of the burrow. If all had their rights, it would seem that the Owl is nearly as much an intruder as the snake, and that it only takes possession of the burrow excavated by
. The popular natural history . Zoology. THE VIRGINIAN EARED OWL. 963 and this strange society is said also to be augmented by a third member, namely, the rattlesnake. It is now, however, ascertained with tolerable accuracy that the rattlesnake is nothing but a very unwelcome intruder upon the marmot, and, as has been shown by the Hon. G. F. Berkeley's experi- ments, is liable to be attacked and destroyed by the legal owner of the burrow. If all had their rights, it would seem that the Owl is nearly as much an intruder as the snake, and that it only takes possession of the burrow excavated by the prairie dog in order to save itself the .^ -â^ trouble of making a subterranean abode for itself Indeed, there are some parts of the country where the Owl is perforce obliged to be its own workman, and, in default of convenient " dog " bur- rows, is fain to employ its claws and IdiU in excavating a home for itself. The tunnel which is made by the Owl is not nearly so deep or so neatly constructed as that which is dug by the marmot, being only eighteen inches or two feet in depth, and very rough in the inte- rior. At the bottom of this bur- row is placed a tolerably seized heap of dried grass, moss, leaves, and other soft substances, upon which are deposited its white- shelled eggs. The Coquimbo Owl is by no , means a nocturnal bird, facing the glare of the mid-day sun with- out inconvenience, and standing at all times in the day or evening on the little heaps of earth which are thrown up at the entrance of the burrow. It is a lively little bird, moving about among the burrows with considerable viva- city, rising on the wing if sud- â denly disturbed, and making a short undulating aerial journey before it again settles upon the ground. When it has alighted from one of these little flights it turns round and earnestly regards the pursuer. Sometimes it will dive into one of the burrows, heed- less of prior occupants, and thus it is that marmot, owl, and snake come
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
