60 BIRDS OF PREY. 



hair, in pellets. He also devoured large flies, which at this 

 time came into the room in great numbers ; and even the dry 

 parts of these were also ejected from the stomach without di- 

 gestion. A pet of this species, which Dr. Michener had, 

 drank frequently, and was accustomed to wash every day in 

 a basin of cold water during the heat of summer. 



Nuttall, following Wilson and Audubon, treated the gray and 

 red phases of this bird as two distinct species, and wrote separate 

 biographies, which I insert in full. Some ornithologists have sup- 

 posed that the gray specimens were the young birds; but it has 

 been proved beyond question that the two phases are simply indi- 

 vidual variations of the same species. Gray and red birds have 

 been found in one nest, with both parents gray, or both red, or with 

 one of each color. 



The Screech Owl is a resident of southern New England and 

 quite common. It breeds northward to the Maritime Provinces, 

 westward to Minnesota and southward to the Gulf States. Prob- 

 ably southern New England is the northern limit of the bird's 

 distribution in winter. 



Note. — A smaller and darker race is found in South Carolina, 

 Georgia, and Florida. It is named Florida Screech Owl 

 {M. asio floridanus). In this race the reddish feathers wear a 

 richer rufous tint, and the gray are more deeply tinged with 

 brown. 



