HORNED OWLS, ETC. 



185 



374a. M. f. idahoensis.V^rr/a//;. Dwakf 

 8cKEECH Owl. 



Similar to the Hanmuilated but smaller and 

 paler, especially on under parts in which the 

 ground is white, and the marking's restricted ; 

 facial ring bright tawnv brown. Winy: 4.S(). 

 tail 2.42. 



Distribution. — Idaho and eastern Washing- 

 ton. 



GENUS BUBO. 



General Characters. — Length : 18-23 : ear 

 tufts conspicuous; ear openings small, without 

 anterior flap, the two ears not distinctly diffei- 

 ent ; wing- with 2 or » quills cut out ; toes cov- 

 ered with short but dense feathers; claws 

 wholly exppsed. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



Dept. of Ayrneuliure. 

 1. Upper parts dark colored. Fig. 24S. Dwarf Screech Owl. 



2. Feet barred with black and huffy pacificus, p. 186. 



2'. Feet barred with black and rusty brown . . . saturatlis. p. 186. 

 r. Upper parts light colored. 



2. Upper parts largely gray and huffy .... pallescens. p. 18."). 



2'. Upper parts largely white arctictis. p. 186. 



375a. Bubo virginianus pallescens stone. ^Vestern Horned 

 Owl. 



Adults. — Ear tufts blackish ; iris bright yellow ; ring around face black : 

 throat white ; rest of under parts white or huffy, mottled and barred with 

 brownish; flanks huffy; upper parts mottled dark brown, light grayisli. 

 audhuSy. lighter colors jjrevailiny : winy; quills and tail banded with dull 

 brown ; whole plumage irregularly varied with butt'y. tawny, whitish, and 

 dusky. Young: wing quills and tail feathers .as in adult, rest of plumage 

 dull huffy or ochraceous, everywhere barred with dusky. Male: length 

 lS-2:;, extent about 49-.rJ. wing about 14.r)()-ir).2."), tail 8.2."). Female: 

 length 22-2."), extent about.')", wing 1(5, tail U. 



1 >istrihution. — Western United States, east through the Plains, casually 

 to Wisconsin and Illinois; and from British Columbia and Manitoba south 

 over the Mexican tablelands. 



Nest. — A hole in a hollow tree, cliff, bank, or cave, or an old nest of a 

 crow or hawk. Kggs : usually 2 or •\, white. 



Food. — Largely mammals such .as rabbits, j)iaiiie dogs, ground sipili- 

 rels, skunks, and wood rats, game birds, waterfowl, smaller land birds. 

 and, in settled regions, poultry. 



The eyesight of the horned owls .sconi.s to be belter than that of 

 most owls, and Dr. Fisher thinks that in the breeding sea.son they 

 hunt in(lilTer<'ntly niglit or day. In disposition, he says, they Jire 

 " tierce and untamable, aiul in point of strength and roiwage iid'e- 

 rior to none of our rapa<-ious birds." Speaking of their food l\;ibit>?, 

 the doctor .says that '"a birtl so powerful and voracious may at times 

 be a source of great benelit, while at otiier limes it niav be the (■;iusc 



