Genus MEGASCOPS Kaip. 

 MEGASCOPS ASIO (Linn.). 



I(i4. Screech Owl. (.•^7:?) 



One plumage : general aspect gray, paler or whitish l)elow. Above, speckled 

 with blackish ; below, patched with tiie same ; winirs and tail, dark-barred, 

 usually a lightish scapidar area. 



Another: general aspect brownish-red, witli shar]) black streaks; beloM', 

 rufous white, variegated ; quills and tail with rufous and <lark bars. These 

 plumages shade insensibly into each other, and it has been determined that 

 they V)ear no definite relations to age, sex or season. Length, aliout 10 ; wing, 

 7 ; tail, 3*. 



Hab. — Temperate easteiii North Aiiicrica. south to (ieorgia, and west to 

 the Plains. Accidental in England. 



Nest, in a hole in a tree, liue<l with feathers. 



Eggs, four to six, rr)und, wliite. 



This is the most abundant of tlie owls in this part of the country, 

 yet, like the others, it is of very irrei^ular occurrence. T have met 

 with it once or twice in the woods in suinnicr, but it is most fre- 

 quently seen in winter, when tlie j^round is covered with snow. Tt is 

 then forced to approach the dwellings of man in search of food, and 



