BIBDS OF NOKTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 695 



OTUS ASIO AIKENI (Brewster). 



AIKEN'S SCREECH OWL. 



Similar to 0. a. cineraceus but larger, the upper parts more coarsely- 

 mottled or vermiculated and with blackish mesial streaks broader 

 and more strongly contrasted with the general color; blackish pen- 

 cihngs of under parts heavier, rather less numerous. vSmaller and 

 much darker than 0. a. maxweUix. 



Adult male. — Length (skins), 195-214 (207); wing, 156-107 

 (160); tail, 74.5-84 (78); culmen, from cere, 12.5-14 (13.4).° 



Adult female. — Length (skins), 220-250 (230); wing, 162-178 

 (171.2); tail, 81-95 (88.2); culmen, from cere, 14.5-15.5 (14.7).^ 



Foothills and plains of eastern Colorado (Greeley, Weld County; 

 Colorado Springs, El Paso County; Beulah, Pueblo County; Fort 

 Lyon, Bent County) southward through New Mexico (Fort Wingate; 

 Vado; Mesa Jumanes) and western and central Texas (Tom Green 

 County; Concho County; Kerrville, Kerr County; Juno, Yalverde 

 County; Terlingua, Brewster County) southward to northern Du- 

 rango (Santuario; Rio Sestln);" southeastern Arizona (San Pedro 

 River, Oct. 4) in migration ? ^ 



A specimen from Juno, Valverde County, southwestern Texas, is not included in the 

 above measurements on account of uncertainty as to its sex, which though determined 

 as female is decidedly smaller in wing-measurment than any of the males examined, 

 its measurements being as follows: Wing, 147; tail, 74.5; culmen, from cere, 14. 



(^ The specimens from the State of Durango, north-central ilexico, are, so far as I am 

 able to see, precisely like typical specimens of 0. a. aikeni in coloration, and are not 

 constantly smaller than some specimens from more northern localities, a female from 

 Rio Sestin having the wing 169.5; tail, 82.5; and culmen, 14.5; while one from El Taso 

 County, Colorado, measures 168.5, 91, and 15.5, while an alleged female from Valverde 

 County, Texas, measures 147, 74.5, and 14, though, as stated above, this example is 

 probably a male. 



^ A specimen from the San Pedro River, southeastern Arizona, obtained Oct. 4, 

 1873, is precisely like typical 0. a. aikeni in coarseness or heaviness of black pcncilings, 

 and in this respect very different from any in a series of 24 examples of 0. a. cineraceus. 

 Whether it is a stray migrant of 0. a. aikeni or an abnormal specimen of 0. a. cineraceus 

 is a question not easy to decide. 



