258 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



varied "with dusky and ochraceous, the quills with large (often partially 

 confluent) spots of the latter ; tail ochraceous or butfy, paler on outer 

 feathers, and crossed with about five dusky bands ; face blackish around 

 eyes, the eyebrows whitish. Young : Above dark sepia-brown, the 

 feathers broadly tijjped with ochraceous-buff ; face uniform brownish 

 black; lower parts wholly plain pale dull butfy, tinged with smoky 

 grayish anteriorly. Length 13.80-16.75, Aving 11.80-13.00, tail 5.80- 

 6.10, culmcn .60-.65, tarsus about 1.75. Nest on ground, in open situa- 

 tions, usually among bushes or tall grasses. Eggs 3-6, 1.59 X 1-23. Hab. 

 Entire western hemisphere, except Galapagos and part of West Indies ; 

 also, nearly throughout eastern hemisphere, excepting Australia, etc. 



367. A. accipitrinus (Pall.). Short-eared Owl. 



Genus SYRNIUM Savigny. (Page 256, pi. LXXYII., fig. 2.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — Above deep umber- or sepia-brown, barred or spotted 

 with butfy or whitish ; face dull gi'ayish or dingy grayish M-hite, usually with nar- 

 row darker concentric rings; quills spotted with pale brown and whitish, and tail 

 crossed by about six to eight narrow bands of the same ; lower parts whitish (bufiy 

 or ochraceous beneath surface), barred and striped, or spotted, with brown ; iris 

 brownish bkck ; bill yellowish. 



a\ Head, neck, and breast broadly barred with deep brown and whitish, or buffy ; 



sides, flanks, and other posterior lower parts striped with deep brown. 



h^. Top of toes feathered, except on terminal portion. 



c'. Face without darker concentric rings ; colors deep sepia-brown and 



grayish white, the latter with little or none of ochraceous on lower 



parts, where the stripes are very dark, almost blackish, brown; 



wing 14.80, tail 9.00, culmen .95. Hab. Eastern Mexico (Mirador, 



etc.). 



S. nebulosum sartorii Ridgw. Mirador Barred Owl.^ 



c?. Face with more or less distinct darker concentric rings ; colors deep 



umber-brown and buffy whitish (deeper buff, or ochraceous, beneath 



surface). Young : Head, neck, and entire lower parts broadly 



barred with rather light umber-brown and pale buffy and whitish, 



the brown and lighter bars about equal in width ; back, scapulars, 



and wing-coverts similarly marked, but the bars broader, the brown 



ones of a deej)er tint, and the terminal portion of each feather 



broadly white, producing a spotted appearance; quills, secondaries, 



and tail-feathers (when grown out) as in adult. Length 19.75-24.00, 



wing about 13.00-14.00, tail about 9.00. Nest in trees (usually in 



hollows). Eggs 2-3, 1.94x1-65. Hab. Eastern North America, 



1 Syrniiim nebulosum, var. sartorii, RiDGW., in Hist. N. Am. B. iii. 1874, 29. (This is possibly .a distinct 

 species from S. nebulosum.) 



