>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).

Yeah, but this description was included in a passage written by an
Army officer - and I don't mean Captain Bendire, either :) Though
he does express humble admiration for Bendire...

>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.

When I mentioned the Great Plains, I failed to mention that the particular
spot being mentioned was not actually dry plains, but rather meadows
at the base of the Big Horn range, well watered by small streams and
lush to the point where the writer raved about their camp there.

- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, at http://www.xxxpdx.com/~dhogaza