>From the FWIW (for what it's worth) departement:

Nuttall's classic Manual of the Ornithology of the US and Canada (1832)
discusses both species and names them Short-eared Owl and Burrowing Owl,
with no colorful alternate names proposed (and he was not timid about
proffering such in other cases). Cassin's Illustrations of the Birds of
California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America (1856) also has
them both under the familiar names, but offers Marsh Owl as a synonym for
the Short-eared Owl. Short-eared Owl is of course that species' common
name in Europe and was simply taken over by American naturalists for our
populations. Cassin thought of it as an inhabitant of "meadows and
marshes along the course of rivers or other streams of water." Even
though we today loosely use the term "prairie" to refer to a range of
grassland habitats including the dry extreme, the original meaning of the
term (from the French) is more exactly "meadow," that is, rather lush
places, including wet meadows but excluding the dry plains. One of the
scientific names put forth (by Bonaparte) for the American form of this
species was indeed Brachyotus palustris, confirming both the Marsh Owl
designation and a preference for wetter sorts of places.

So what, you may well ask? So, what's in a name... Names are highly time
and place specific, and usage changes, sometimes rapidly.

Hal Opperman
halop at u.washington.edu
206-635-0503

On Mon, 4 Nov 1996, Dennis Paulson wrote:

> >I'm reading something written in the last quarter of the 19th century
> >the Great Plains, and there's talk of the "prairie owl". I know that
> >this list has a few members who probably remember that era :) Anyone
> >know offhand if this would refer to burrowing or short-eared owl? (the
> >two choices that come to mind).
> >
> >Thanks!
> >
> >
> >- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
>
> I think it refers to Burrowing.
>
> Dennis Paulson, Director phone 206-756-3798
> Slater Museum of Natural History fax 206-756-3352
> University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
> Tacoma, WA 98416
>
>
>