200 Birds of Colorado 



open country where there is water with high grass and 

 bushes, among which it lurks. It is a silent bird, but 

 if disturbed utters a few mournful cries, and chatters 

 with its mandibles. It preys chiefly on mice and other 

 small rodents, occasionally on small birds and insects. 

 The nest is a rough affair of coarse grass and sticks, 

 sparsely lined with finer material and feathers. It is 

 placed on the ground, usually sheltered and hidden by 

 a tuft of grass or by a bush. The eggs, four to seven 

 in number, are white in colour and ovate in shape, and 

 average 1'55 x r25. Morrison states: "Begins laying 

 in April. Eggs four or five. Nest on the ground on 

 open prairie, or more commonly upon mesas under a 

 clump of scrub-oak, or bunch of high grass or sage-brush." 

 He does not implicitly say that he himself found a nest. 



Genus STRIX. 



Of moderate size ; wing 12 — 14 ; bill yellow, nostrils at the edge 

 of the small cere ; facial disk complete and large ; no ear-tufts ; ear- 

 openings large, somewhat asymmetrical with a moderate operculun\, 

 scarcely extending the length of the opening ; wing rounded, not twice 

 the length of the tail ; tarsus always completely feathei'ed ; toes 

 wholly or partly so. 



A large genus, chiefly in the northern hemisphere, with two distinct 

 United States species and several local races. 



A. Larger ; wing generally over 13 ; abdomen streaked with dark 



brown. S. varia, p. 200. 



B. Smaller; wing generally under 13; abdomen transversely 



barred with brown. S. occiden talis, p. 201. 



Barred Owl. Strix varia. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 3f)8— Colorado Records— Aiken 00, p. 298 

 (Symium nehulosum) : Cooke 97, p. 20o ; Henderson 07, p. 198 ; 

 09, p. 230. 



Description. — Above dark brown irregularly barred and spotted with 

 buffy, whitish and yellowish-brown ; wings and tail banded ; head, 

 neck and breast widely barred with dark brown and white or buffy ; 

 belly streaked with dark brown on a wliitish or bufTy ground ; facial 



