. The birds of Ontario in relation to agriculture . the head andneck of the slain will be eaten,the bodies being left to animalsof less power, or meaner ambi-tion, to finish. The Long-eared Owl () is a much smaller bird thanthe last (being about fifteeninches in length), and contentsitself with much humbler farethan its big cousin. It is fairlycommon throughout the culti-vated districts particularly inthe autumn, when it may often be found in clumps of willows and alders that have been left in the lowplaces about the fields and pastures. Quite frequently a pair will befound together. The
. The birds of Ontario in relation to agriculture . the head andneck of the slain will be eaten,the bodies being left to animalsof less power, or meaner ambi-tion, to finish. The Long-eared Owl () is a much smaller bird thanthe last (being about fifteeninches in length), and contentsitself with much humbler farethan its big cousin. It is fairlycommon throughout the culti-vated districts particularly inthe autumn, when it may often be found in clumps of willows and alders that have been left in the lowplaces about the fields and pastures. Quite frequently a pair will befound together. These are not, however, always male and female. Ihave never seen any evidence to show that this owl ever attackspoultry, and I do not believe that it could kill any domestic fowl largeror stronger than a pigeon. Its chief food consists of mice, variedoccassionally by small birds and insects, more particularly the wood-boring beetles ; of these one or more will generally be found in thestomach or crop of every specimen examined. It is nocturnal in its. Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus(Fig. 5.) 14 habits, rarely moving about during the day unless disturbed, and eventhen it seems loth to move. Only once have I seen it attempting tohunt in daylight, and that occurred in western Ontario on a very dull,still day in November, when about four oclock in the afternoon I sawa pair of them hovering over a field of long grass into which we haddriven a bevy of quail. I suspected the owls of quail-hunting on theirown account so followed them and shot both, but their stomachs con-tained no trace of feathers—nothing but mice. The only harm theseowls can ever justly be accused of doing is the occasional killing of asmall bird, and that is so far overbalanced by the great amount of goodthey do, that they are entitled to all the protection possible. The Short-eared Owl is about the same size as the last namedspecies, but may be distinguished from it by the absence of the longear-tufts, which are a
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