Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/800

* BURROWING BEE. 712 BURROWING BEE. Any of several kinds of bees that form burrows in the ground as nest- ing-places. Prominent among tliem are the genera Andrena and Halictus. See Bee; and Plate of Wild Bees. BURROWING OWL, or Coquimbo. A small owl {S/itolylo ciiiiicularia), that dwells in the abandoned burrows of various fnssorial (luadrupeds. It al)ounds on tlie open ])Uiins of both North and South Ameriea, tho.se of South America constituting a well-marked geographi- cal race; races also dwell .scantily in Florida, and the islands of Bahama and Guadeloupe. They are of small size, about )Y> inches long, and have very long legs, scantily feathered ; the tail is very short, there are no ear-tufts, and the sexes are alike in size and color, which is brownish above and buffy below, variously barred and spotted with somewhat darker tints. The South American race (called 'coquimbo") inhabits old burrows of the vizcacha, the Pata- gonian cavy, or even of armadillos and large lizards, and it is "generally believed that when they do not find suitable accommodations of this kind they dig holes for themselves." This race differs from the North American bird, which is diurnal, in being "crepuscular or noc- turnal, . . . seldom feeding at all until toward sunset, when it becomes very active. On the pampas it is iisually very tame, . . . but after sunset it becomes very vigilant, flying up and hovering at a height of 30 or 40 feet, and uttering its screams of protest whenever an in- truder appears in sight, thus giving ample warning to its neighbors, the vizeachas" {Stcj- neger) . The North American burrowing owls have been very thoroughly described by Dr. El- liott Coues in his Birds of the Northwest, from which the following is quoted: "The burrowing owl is the only bird of its family inhabiting, in any numbers,' the entirely treeless regions of the West, and may be con- sidered characteristic of the plains. Wherever it can find shelter in the holes of such animals as wolves, foxes, and badgers, and especially of the various species of marmot squirrels, there it is found in abundance; and in not a few in- stances small colonies are observed living apart from their ordinary associates, in holes ai)i)ar- ently dug by themselves. They constitute a nota- ble exception to the general rule of arboricole habits in this family, being specially fitted by their conformation for the subterranean mode of life for which they are designed, and are further- more exceptional in their gregarious disposition, here carried to the extreme. The difTusion of the species in the West is so general that there is little occasion to mention particular localities. "The notes of the burrowing owl are peculiar. The birds do not 'hoot,' nor is there anything lugubrious or foreboding in their cry. Some- times they cluickle. cbalter, and scpical in an odd way, "as if tlicy had caught a habit of bark- ing from the 'dogs' they live with, and were try- ing to imitate the sound. But their natural cry is curiously similar to that of the rain-crow, or cuckoo "of America — so much so that more than one observer has been deceived. They scream hoarsely when wounded and caxight, though this is but seldom, since, if any life re- mains, they scramble quickly into a hole and are not easy "to recover. The flight is perfectly BURSAR. noiseless, like that of other owls, owing to the day they seldom fly far from the entrance of their burrow, and rarely, if ever, mount in the air. 1 never saw one on wing more than a few moments at a time, just long enough for it to pass from one hillock to another, as it does by skimming low over the surface of the ground in a rapid, easy, and rather graceful manner. They live chiefly upon insects, especially grass- hoppers; they also feed upon lizards, as 1 once determined by dissection, and there is no doubt that young prairie-dogs furnish them many a meal. Under ordinary circumstances they are not very shy or diflicult to procure; 1 once se- cured several specimens in a few minutes, and, 1 fear, left some others to languish and die in their holes. As commonly observed, perched on one of the innumerable little eminences that mark a dog-town, amid their curious surround- ings, they present a spectacle not easily for- gotten. Tlieir figure is peculiar, with their long legs and short tail ; the element of the grotesque is never wanting; it is hard to say whether they look most huiicrous as they stand stiffly erect and motionless, or when they sud- denly turn tail to duck into the hole, or when engaged in their various antics." Their nests are made of soft materials in this underground chamber, and contain seven or eight white eggs. Thej- remain throughout the winter in and about their holes, though some may migrate from the most northerly and in- clement part of their range. The story that they hibernate is fictitious. It is scarcely necessary also to refute at length, as does Dr. Coues, the fable that they live harmoniously — a sort of happy family — with the prairie-dogs and preva- lent rattlesnakes. They are unwelcome neigh- bors to (not co-tenants with) the squirrels, and the rattlesnakes enter the burrows as enemies to both. Sec (IWL ; and Plate of OwLS. BURROWING PERCH. See Culpee. BUR'ROWS, William (1785-1813). An American naval oflTicer. He was born near Phila- delphia, entered the United States Navy as a midshipman in 1709, and served as an acting lieutenant in the Tripolitan War. In the war with England he commanded the Enterprise in the engagement with the Boxer off Portland, Maine, on September 5, 1813. The Boxer was taken ; but Burrows was mortally wounded, and lived only long enough to receive the surrender of Capt. Samuel Blythe, the English conunander, who was also killed. The bodies of the two officers were buried side by side in Portland. BURRSTONE. See Buhrstone. BURSAR, BURSARY, or BURSE {Burse is a doublet of jtiirse, Vv. hoiirsi; pouch, from Low Lat. bursa, pur.se. Ok. ^ifian, hiirsa., hide, skin). In tiie universities of (ireat Britain, especially in those of Scotland, and in early New England usage, the term bursar was not restrict- ed to the kee])er of a burse or purse — the treasurer — but it might mean, and often did mean, the recipient of a burse, or bursary, or, as we should say, the holder of a scholarship. The conditions under which these bursaries have l)een bestowed vary in different places. In Scotland tlie numl>er of bursaries or foundations for the encouragement of students has been very
 * )eculiar downy texture of the plumage. By