124 



BIRDS OF PREY 



Subgenus. — Bubo. 



Conch of the ear moderate, oval, with a membranous cover. Feet 

 thickly covered to the claws wnth short feathers. The disk or rim 

 of feathers round the face not very distinct. 



t With the head furnished with ear-like tufts. 



GREAT HORNED OWL, or CAT OWL. 



(Strix virginiana, Gm. Wilson, vi. p. 52. pi. 50. fig. 1. Audubon, 

 pi. 61, [unusually dark and large]. Philad. Museum, No. 410.) 



Spec. Charact. — Mottled } primaries and tail feathers banded with 

 black and dusky ; shell of the ear moderate } wings not extend- 

 ing to the tip of the tail ; a very large species. 



This species, so nearly related to the Great Eared 

 Owl of Europe, is met with occasionally from Hudson's 

 Bay to Florida, and exists even beyond the tropics, being 

 very probably the same bird described by Marcgrave as 

 inhabiting the forests of Brazil. All climates are alike 

 to this Eagle of the night, the king of the nocturnal tribe 



