the burrows of the Prairie Marmot, or Prairie Dog (Cynomys). It is a small species, but can hold its own with the marmots, and no one will doubt that the Cave Owl would prove the master in an encounter with a rabbit. I spent many hours sitting on the rabbit earths on favourable nights, but only once saw an Owl. It was cold work, and several times I was driven home by the sudden rising of the wind. Though I cannot be certain, I think the Owl I saw had flown directly from a burrow just behind me. My attention was drawn to the bird by hearing the "swish" of wings close at hand. Looking up, I could dimly see the form of an Owl flying around in a short circle, and its shadow on the ground was plainly visible. On other nights I tried to get within sight of these Owls by following up their cries. Either they were very wary, or very timid, for I never got near a calling bird. The calls varied a little in tone, there being a higher and a lower note, but I am not sure that the lower note was not uttered by a Quail (Turnix). I have often heard the Little Quail (T. velox) call at night. It was fairly common on the plain.
Not far from Haig was an abandoned water shaft, which had been put down to a depth of 200 feet. This shaft was close-timbered and furnished with a ladder held by staples to the timbers. About 20 feet down, roosting on a rung of the ladder, I discovered a Cave Owl. Its head was twisted right round as it gazed upwards in my direction. I dropped one or two small pellets of clay on its head in the hopes it would fly up the shaft, and I might get a better look at it. It refused to move, so I climbed down the ladder, thinking there might be some cavity, not visible from above, where its mate was nesting. There was nothing, and the Owl simply flew to the other side of the shaft, to which it clung with its claws. On visiting this shaft again a week or so later, I found no Owls there, but two or three bats were hanging from the timber of the walls. Evidently the Owl I had seen had no difficulty in finding another roosting place. Formerly there had been a settler's camp near this water shaft, and I was informed by several employees who lived there that Owls were often seen and even perched on the ridge poles of the various tents. On one occasion a young bird was found drowned in a water tank. My informant was familiar with the call, and also the snoring noise made by this species.
Since my return home, Mr. A. Rees, the station-master at Haig, has written that three young Owls and their parents had been captured by a railway employee at the bottom of a small shaft only 12 feet deep. This shaft lies some 12 miles or more to the east of Haig. When the Owls were first noted, the female was sitting on three eggs in a corner at the bottom of the shaft.
At Loongana Owls formerly bred in the big cave some two miles E.S.E. of the depot, but the cave has been so much visited of late years that the Owls deserted it. At the depot itself a pair roosted for some time on the steel trestle work supporting a large feed tank. Despite the situation, they were very wary, and all
