The bird loves an open country, and sits by day on the ground concealed amongst the herbage or tall grass. An hour before sunset it quits its hiding-place, and is seen perched on a bush or tall stalk, or sailing about a few feet above the ground with a singularly slow, heron-like flight; and at intervals while flying it smites its wings together under its breast in a quick sudden manner. It is not at all shy, the intrusion of a man or dog in the field it frequents only having the effect of exciting its indignation. An imitation of its cry will attract all the individuals within hearing about a person, and any loud unusual sound, like the report of a gun, produces the same effect. When alarmed or angry it utters a loud hiss, and at times a shrill laugh-like cry. It also has a dismal scream, not often heard; and at twilight hoots, this part of its vocal performance sounding not unlike the distant baying of a mastiff or a bloodhound. It breeds on the ground, clearing a circular spot, and sometimes, but not often, lining it with a scanty bed of dry grass. The eggs are three or four, white, and nearly spherical. The Short-eared Owl was formerly common everywhere on the pampas, where the coarse indigenous grasses afforded the shelter and conditions best suited to it. When in time this old rough vegetation gave place to the soft perishable grasses and clovers, accidentally introduced by European settlers, the Owl disappeared from the country, like the large Tinamou (_Rhynchotis rufescens_), the Red-bellied Finch (_Embernagra platensis_), and various other species; for the smooth level plains afforded it no shelter. Now, however, with the spread of cultivation, it has reappeared, and is once more becoming a common bird in the more thickly-settled districts. 288. BUBO VIRGINIANUS (Gm.). (VIRGINIAN OWL.) +Bubo virginianus+, _Scl. et Salv. Nomencl._ p. 116; _Scl. P. Z. S._ 1872, p. 549 (Rio Negro); _White, P. Z. S._ 1883, p. 433 (Cordova); _Barrows, Auk_, 1884, p. 29 (Gualeguaychú). +Bubo crassirostris+, _Burm. La-Plata Reise_, ii. p. 439 (Mendoza). +Bubo magellanicus+, _d'Orb. Voy. Ois._ p. 137; _Salv. Ibis_, 1880, p. 361 (Salta); _Sharpe, Cat. B._ ii. p. 29. _Description._--Above dull tawny buff, more or less densely mottled with blackish brown; ear-tufts long, blackish, mixed with tawny buff; wings tawny buff, with about seven blackish cross bands; tail tawny buff, tipped with whitish, and with about seven blackish cross bands: beneath dull ochraceous buff, with dusky brown cross lines; throat-collar whitish: whole length 19·5 inches, wing 14·5, tail 8·5. _Female_ similar, but rather larger. _Hab._ North and South America.