NORTHERN BARRED OWL 189 



The molt into the first winter plumage begins at this age with the 

 appearance of the first firm feathers on the back and scapulars. The 

 long feathers of the flanks and abdomen, each with a broad, median 

 stripe of dark brown, appear next, and are fully grown before the 

 transversely barred feathers of the upper breast are perfected. In 

 two young birds taken on August 7, about four months old, the heads 

 are still mainly covered with the soft, juvenal, downy plumage; and 

 the long, soft, downy plumage covers the thighs. 



By late in September, in New England, the young bird has a fully 

 developed first winter plumage, showing the transverse barring on the 

 upper breast and the longitudinal striping on the belly and flanks. 

 It is now like the adult, except that the general tone is slightly browner, 

 with buff instead of white bars on the hind neck and with more pale 

 buff on the under parts; the light bars in the wings and tail are also 

 tinged with buff. These buff tints all fade away during the winter, 

 so that old and young birds are indistinguishable by spring. Adults 

 apparently have a complete molt during summer and early in fall, but 

 molting birds seem to be very scarce in collections. 



Food. — The food of the barred owl is varied and includes maivy 

 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and insects. 

 It is, on the whole, decidedly a beneficial species, as most of its food 

 consists of injurious rodents and other animals of doubtful value, and 

 it does very little damage to poultry and game. Dr. A. K. Fisher 

 (1893b) reports that "of 109 stomachs examined, 5 contained poultry 

 or game; 13, other birds; 46, mice; 18, other mammals; 4, frogs; 1, a 

 lizard; 2, fish; 14, insects; 2, spiders; 9, crawfish." He quotes several 

 authorities as saying that this owl is very destructive to domestic 

 poultry, particularly young chickens; but his investigations showed 

 that poultry formed a very small part of its food. What few game 

 birds are taken are probably the weaker or more sickly individuals, 

 thus preventing reproduction from unhealthy parents and improving 

 the strength of the race. Mice seem to form the bulk of the food; 

 he says that Dr. C. Hart Merriam took the remains of at least a dozen 

 red-backed mice from a single owl. 



The following mammals have been recorded in the food of the barred 

 owl: Mice of many species, rats, chipmunks, gray, red, flying, and fox 

 squirrels, young hares, rabbits, minks, opossums, weasels, moles, 

 shrews, and bats. The list of birds is still longer; it contains chickens, 

 pigeons, doves, grouse, quail, small owls, purple gallinule, flickers and 

 other woodpeckers, kingfisher, crow, blue jay, cardinal, towhee, junco 

 and other sparrows, blackbirds, various warblers, swallows, brown 

 thrasher, catbird, and robin and other thrushes. Other items are 

 frogs, crayfishes, lizards, small snakes, snails, slugs, salamanders, 

 flesh of a terrapin, perch, hornpout and other fishes, grasshoppers, 

 crickets, large beetles, and spiders. 



