HORNED OWLS, ETC. 181 



gray-coated night woodsman. In the daytime he snuggles up to 

 sonic gray trunk under the thick branches of a dark spruce, or hides 

 in the leafy canopy of a forest tree. At night he floats on noiseless 

 wings along the edges of the open parks and meadows, passing 

 from tree to tree and bush to bush, dropping on unsuspecting mice 

 that rustle the grass or venture into the open spaces under the trees, 

 rinding an abundance of food even when the snow is deep and the 

 nights crisp and cold. 



With the first thaws of early spring his love-song is heard, --a 

 soft scraping note repeated monotonously in quick succession for 

 half an hour at a time. It usually conies first from the woodpecker 

 hole where he has been spending the day, but later in the evening 

 is repeated from the branches in different parts of the woods. Before 

 the snow has all gone the eggs are laid, sometimes in the woodpecker 

 hole where his voice was first heard, sometimes in another near by. 

 By the time the first really warm spring weather has come the young- 

 have hatched. Then the old birds are too busy catching mice for 

 their large family to give much time to music, and they are not 

 heard again regularly until the next spring. But they have many 

 soft little talking notes that you can hear by sleeping in their woods 

 on still summer nights. VERNON BAILEY. 



37 2a. N. a. scotsea Osgood. NORTHWEST SAW-WHET OWL,. 



Similar to N. acadica, but darker, dark marking's everywhere heavier ; 

 flanks, leg's, and feet more rufescent. Wing : 3.33, tail 2.<>6. tarsus 1.03. 



Distribution. Puget Sound region, north to Queen Charlotte Islands. 

 B. C. 



GENUS MEGASCOPS. 



General Characters. - Wing : 5.40-7.80 ; ear tufts more or less con- 

 spicuous ; ear opening's small, the two ears alike ; wing's rounded, about 

 twice the length of the short rounded tail ; tarsus feathered. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Toes feathered or bristly. 



2. Size large, wing averaging about 7 or more. 

 3. Plumage dark and heavily mottled. 



4. Dichromatic ; brown form with back deep sooty brown. Oregon 



to Sitka kemiicottii. p. 183. 



4'. Monochromatic ; back grayish brown. East of Cascades. 



macfarlanei. p. 184. 

 3'. Plumage pale ashy gray, lightly streaked. Rocky Mountains. 



maxwelliae, p. 183. 

 2'. Size smaller, wing averaging (>.60 or less. 



3. Wing averaging less than ; plumage dichromatic. 



4. Throat without fulvous collar. Southwestern Texas and Mexico. 



mccalli, p. 183. 



4'. Throat with pai'tial collar of mottled fulvoiis in gray phase. 

 Mexico and southern Arizona .... trichopsis, p. 184. 



