STRIGID.E: OTHER OWLS. 631 



but captive adults generally prove intractable. This Owl preys upon birds and quadrupeds up 

 to the size of domestic f(jwls and rabbits, and is more destructive to poultry than any Hawk 

 whatever ; it often kills more than it can devour, only eating off the heads of its victims. It 

 is habitually abroad in the daytime, apparently not at all inconvenienced by sunlight. Runs 

 into the following varieties, which, however, are not as strictly geographical as the names 

 would indicate : — 



B. V. arc'ticus. (Lat. arctieus, northern.) White Horned Owl. Very pale ccdored, fre- 

 quently quite whitish, and not distantly resembling the Snowy Owl, from which, however, it 

 is easily distinguished by the long plumicorns and other generic characters. (See Swainson's 

 fig. in F. B. A., pi. 30.) Boreal and alpine North Am.; such specimens occasional in north- 

 ern U. S. in winter, and Rocky Mt. region. This form has stood correctly in the Key since 

 1872; the attempt of the A. 0. U. to subdivide it into B. v. arctieus and jB. v. suharcticiis, 

 Lists, 1886-95, Nos. 375 h and 375 a (after Ridgw., Orn. 40th Par. 1877, p. 572) has been 

 abandoned (see Auk, Apr. 189(3, pp. 153-1.36, and Jan. 1897, p. 134). 



B. V. paci'flcus. (Lat. pacificus, of the Pacific ocean.) Pacific Horned Owl. Very 

 dark colored, chiefly blackish and grayish, with little tawny, and what there is of it dull ; 

 facial disc quite ashy. Rather smaller than average virginianus ; but the diflference is slight. 

 Western N. Am., but by no means confined to the Pacific coast region. The smallest 

 specimens I have seen are from Lower California. Cass., 111. B. Cal., etc., July, 1854, 

 p. 178, and in Baird, B. N. A. 1858, p. 49; Coues, Key, orig. ed. 1872, p. 202, and 2d- 

 4th eds. 1884-90, p. 504; ignored in A. 0. U. Lists, 1886 and 1895; admitted in Eighth 

 Suppl. Auk, Jan. 1897, p. 119, No. "375c"; given as "3756" in Ninth Suppl. Auk, Jan. 

 18il9, p. 110. 



B. V. saturatiis? (Lat. saturated, sc. with color.) DusKY Horned Owl. Extremely dark- 

 colored with little or no tawny; facial disc sooty brown mixed with grayish-white. Size of 

 ordinary virginianus. Pacific coast region. Upper California to Alaska; " Labrador," and 

 also accredited to much of interior N. Am. Apparently a dark littoral form, in the extreme 

 pliase of which the tawny is extinct. RiDGW. Orn. 40th Par. 1877, p. 572; Man. 1887, 

 p. 263 ; A. 0. U. Lists, 1886 and 1895, No. 375 c; not separated from pacificus in 2d-4th eds. 

 of the Key, and prttbably not separable. 



Obs. B. v. occidentalis Stone, Auk, Apr. ISOfi, p. 155, is inadmissible, being simply the common species, somewhat 

 lighter than usual, and insomuch tending toward B. v. arctieus; type from Mitchell Co., Iowa. See Auk, Jan. 1897, 

 p. 13'.'. 



MEGASCOPS. (Gr. ^eyas, megas, large, and (tku)\I/, Lat. scops, a, small kind of owl; our species, 

 though small, are larger than the typical (Scops giu of Euroj)e. Fig. 434.) Little Horned 

 Owls. Screech Owls. Dukelets. Like a miniature Bubo in form (all our species under 

 a foot long). Skull and ear-parts symmetrical; latter small, simply elliptical, with rudimen- 

 tary operculum ; facial disc moderately developed ; plumicorns evident ; nostrils at edge of core, 

 which is not inflated, and shorter than rest of culmen. Wings rounded, but long, about twice 

 the lengtli of the short rounded tail, about to end of which they fold ; in our species 4th and 5th 

 primaries longest, 1st quite short; 3 or 4 outer primaries sinuate or emarginate on inner webs. 

 Tarsus feathered (in our species), but toes only partly bristly (in the M. asio group) or quite 

 naked (as in M. flammeola). Plumage dichromatic in some cases; i. e., some individuals of 

 the same species normally mottled gray, while others are reddi.»<h. the two phaj^es very distinct 

 when fully dcvelop(;d, but shading insensibly into each other, and entirely independent i>f age, 

 season, sex, or locality; the same individual may he red or gray at different times, and may ]>ass 

 from one phase to tlie other by aptosochromatism — that is, by alteration in tlie ]>igments of tiie 

 {>lumage, without loss of old or gain of new feathers (Auk, Jan. 1897, p. 38, pi. 1 ). In nornijil 

 jihimage, a white or wliitisli .scapular stripe ; lower parts with lengthwise l>lotchis or shaft- 



