ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT. 



267 



ster); "Keweenaw Point" (Knceland); breeds; nests in trees, on the ground, on 

 rocks, etc.; nests often very bulky, eggs two to four; food fish. 



Suborder STEIGES. Owls. 



Family STRIGID/E. J5arn Owls. 



Feed on rats, mice, insects and birds; very valuable. 



Genus 8TR1X Linn. 



lG3-365-(4Gl). Strix pratiiu^oia Bonap. American Barn Owl. 



"Rather rare, resident" (Gibbs' Birds of Michigan); we have never seen it here; 

 Dr. J. B. Steere informs me that the same is true at Ann Arbor; "Sault Ste Marie" 

 (Chas. Bendire, Smithsonian Contribution to Knowledge, Vol. XXVIII, p. 325); one 

 Michigan specimen reported in the catalogue of the Kent Scientific Institute by E. 

 L. Moseley, who writes me that though common at Sandusky, Ohio, they are 

 e.xceedingly rare in Michigan; "I have one mounted specimen taken here at Port 

 Sanilac in 1890'' (W. A. Oldfield); recorded by A. H. Boies in 1875, A. B. Covert in 

 1878 and by Dr. M. Gibbs in 1879; "has been known to breed in Tippecanoe and 

 Clinton Counties, Indiana" (A. W. Butler). 



Family BUBONID.^. Common Owls. 



Nocturnal birds of prey; feed on rats, mice, insects and birds; do great good. 

 Elaborate investigations by government experts prove them to be exceedingly valu- 

 able. (See "Hawks and Owls of the United States in Relation to Agriculture," by 

 Dr. A. K. Fisher, Department of Agriculture, Washington, 1893). Eggs, like those 

 of hawks, short and spherical. " All owls, with the possible exception of the great 

 horned owl, and nearly all hawks should be protected by law " (J. B. Purdy). 



Gknus ASIO Briss. 



Raptorial foot of an Owl. 



164-366-(472). Asio wilsoniaiiiis (Less.). * American Long-eared Owl. 



Rather rare; all seasons; "not rare at Albion" (O. B. Warren); "found in Hills- 

 dale" (F. M. Falconer); A. H. Boies has taken several in Hillsdale Co.; "at Ann 

 Arbor ' (Dr. J. B. Steere); " only seen at Plymouth in fall and winter" (J. B. Purdy); 



