3. BUBO. 21 



brown, tawuy butt' at base and for the greater part of the inner 

 web ; " bill black ; toes ashy ; claws horn-colour, black at ends ; 

 iris gamboge-yellow " {Rhlyway). Total length 23 inches, wing 

 14-9, tail 9, tarsus 2-3. 



Obs. The specimens from North America in the Museum not 

 being sexed, I borrow the measurements given by Mr. Ridgway 

 {t. c. p. 03). He gives those of the male as follows : — Wing 14'50, 

 tail 8-20, culmen 1*10, tarsus 2, middle toe 2. 



Female. General appearance same as in the male. Black blotches 

 on head above and nape less conspicuous, the surface being mottled 

 like the back &c. ; primary coverts with three well-detined, narrow, 

 pure black bands ; primaries with only six bauds, these broader 

 than in the male ; secondaries with ouly five bands ; tail with but 

 six dark bands, these very much narrower than the light ones. 

 Tibia3 and tarsi with sparse transverse bars of dusky. Wing 16, 

 tail 9, culmen 1'20, tarsus 2-20, middle toe 2-10 {Rkhjwcnj). 



Mr. Ridgway gives nine dusky bars on the primaries of the male 

 and eight on the secondaries, seven being the number on the tail- 

 feathers. From the sizes here given it api^ears that the example 

 described by me (one of Mr. Doubleday's Delaware specimens) is a 

 male. I cau, however, only count seven dark bands on the pri- 

 maries and six on the secondaries, while the tail has seven more or 

 less distinct ones. Generally, however, as will be seen below, the 

 bars are identical in number on both series of the quills, while not 

 unfrequently the number on the tail-feathers corresponds also. 



The American Horned Owl varies greatly, and sometimes appa- 

 rently these variations are coincident with a different locality ; but 

 I do not think these difterences are greater than those we are ac- 

 customed to see in B. ignavus of Europe. Generally speaking, spe- 

 cimens from British Columbia and Vancouver's Island are much 

 darker than ordinary North-American examples, and belong to the 

 race first separated by Mr. Cassin, and constituting the var. pa- 

 cijicus of Mr. Ridgway's recent work. He gives the range of this 

 subspecies as the " Pacific coast north of the Columbia, Labrador," 

 and he calls it a " northern littoral form." We have in the Museum 

 six specimens from the above-mentioned locaKties, on which I have 

 made the following notes a propos of Mr. Ridgway's account : — 



a. c? . West side of the Rocky Mountains (J. K. Lord). Total 

 length 21 inches, wing 14*85, tail 9, tarsus 2"0. Bands on pri- 

 maries and secondaries 7, bars on tail 7. 



h. 5 . West side of the Rocky Mountains {J. K. Lord). Total 

 length 20 inches, wing 14-85, tail 9, tarsus 2-45. Bauds on pri- 

 maries and secondaries 8, and on tail 8. The sex is probably an 

 error in this specimen : they both agree with Mr. Ridgway's 

 diagnosis as to the dark coloration of this race ; but they have not 

 the face " greyish ;" for it is orange-buff barred with black. Both 

 are very thickly barred with black helow. 



f. Vancouver's Island {J. K. Lord). Total length 21 inches, 

 wing 15-4, tail 9-8, tarsus 2'75. Bars on primaries 8, and the same 



