100 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



Other Names. — American Long-cared 

 Owl ; Lesser Horned Owl. 



General Description. — Length, i6 inches; spread of 

 wings, 40 inches. Color above, a mottling of blackisli- 

 brown and grayish-white ; below, white and buff, barred 

 and spotted with brown. Ear-tufts conspicuous. 



Color. — AnuLTS : Above, mottled with blackish- 

 brown and grayish-white, the former predominating, 

 especially on back ; shoulders with a few irregular, in- 

 distinct spots of white on outer webs ; primary coverts, 

 dusky with transverse series of mottled grayish spots, 

 these becoming more buffy basally ; ground color of pri- 

 maries, grayisli, especially on inner quills, passing into 

 buffy basally (extensively on outer quills), the grayish 

 portion finely mottled, transversely, with dusky, and 

 crossed by about seven transverse series of square 

 blackish-brown spots, those in front about as wide as 

 the buffy or mottled grayish interspaces ; secondaries 

 crossed by about nine or ten bands of dusky; general 

 color of wing-coverts like back, but growing paler 

 toward edge of wing, their tips also pale (sometimes 

 nearly white); tail banded like secondaries; ear-tufts 

 with center portion (broadly) plain black, the edges of 

 the feathers (broadly) buff, passing into white (usually 

 broken by blackish lines or mottling) terminally; fore- 

 head and behind ears minutely speckled with blackish 

 and white ; " eyebrows " and lores, grayish-white, the 

 eyes surrounded by blackish, this widest in front, above, 

 and below ; face, plain dull ochraceous ; facial disk, 

 black becoming broken into a variegated collar across 



LONG-EARED OWL 

 Asio wilsonianus (Lesson) 



A. O. V. .\umber 366 See Color I'late 53 



Owl; Cat 



I'll t ' " R. W. Shiifel.lt 



LONG-EARED OWL 



An industrious mouser, doing an enormous amount of 

 good 



throat; chin and upper throat, plain white; general 

 color of under parts, buff, the exposed surface of the 

 feathers, however, white ; breast with large longitudinal 

 center blotches of clear sooty-brown; sides and flanks 



Photograph by H. T. Middleton 



LONG-EARED OWL 

 With ear-tufts elevated 



with center stripes of sooty-brown crossed by as broad, 

 or broader, transverse bars of the same; abdomen, leg 

 plumes, and legs, plain buff, passing into nearly white 

 on lower leg and on toes, the thigh-plumes usually with 

 a few arrowhead spots of brownish ; under tail-coverts 

 with center narrow stripes or streaks of dusky, these 

 Y-shaped forward ; under wing-coverts, plain ochra- 

 ceous, the under primary coverts blackish-brown, form- 

 ing a conspciuous spot; bill, dull black; iris, bright 

 lemon-yellow. Young: Wing- and tail-feathers (if 

 developed) as in adults; other portions broadly barred 

 with blackish-brown and grayish-white, the latter pre- 

 dominating anteriorly; "eyebrows" and loral bristles, 

 black; legs, white. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Built in dense growth of 

 coniferous trees, from 10 to 40 feet up, a carelessly 

 made affair of sticks and lined with grass, old leaves, 

 or feathers ; frequently an old Crow's, Hawk's or 

 squirrel's nest is appropriated and repaired ; more rarely 

 it is placed on the ground. Eggs : 3 to 7, usually 4 or 

 5, white. 



Distribution. — Temperate North .America ; north to 

 Newfoundland, southern Quebec, northwestern Ontario, 

 southern Keewatin, southern Mackenzie, British Colum- 

 bia, and coast of southern .Maska ; breeding southward 

 to Virginia, Arkansas, northern Texas, southern Cali- 

 fornia, etc.; winters over greater part of its range and 

 southward to central Mexico. 



