64 NOKTH AMERICAN OOLOGY. PART I. 



BUBO VIRGINIANUS. 



Slrix scandiaca, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 132. (.') 



Slrix virginiana, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 287. 



" " Wilson, Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 52. 



" BoNAP. Syn. 1828, p. 37. 



" " Rich. & Swains. F. B. A. II, 1831, 82. 



" " NuTTALL, Manual, I, 1832, 124. 



AuD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 313 ; V. 392. 

 De Kay, Nat. Hist. N. Y., Birds, 1844, pi. x, fig. 22. 

 Strix pyihaides, Bartkam, Trav. 1791, p. 289. 

 Bubo ludovicianus, Datjdin, Traite d'Orn. 1800, II, 210. 

 Buho pinicola, Vieill. Ois. d'Am. Sept. I, 1807, 51. 

 Bubo arcticus ? Rich. & Swains. F. B. A. II, 1831, 86, pi. xxx. 

 Bubo septenfrionalis, Beohm, Vog. Deutschl. 1831, p. 120. (?) 

 Bubo virginianiis, Bonap. Gcog. and Comp. List, 1838, p. 6. 

 " " AiTD. Syn. 1839, p. 29. 



" " " Birds of Am. I, 1840, 143, pi. xxxix. 



" " Cassin, Syn. N. A. Birds (Illust. Birds of Cal.), 1854, p. 177. 



Bubo sub-arcficus. Hoy, Proc. Acad. Phila. VI, 1852, 211. (?) 



VuLG. — The Great Horned Owl. Cat Owl. Great Screech-Oivl. Le Grand Hihou d''Ame- 

 rique (Cuvier). The Virginian Old. Tejolote Grande (Berlandier MSS. Mexico). 



The Great Plorued Owl of North America has a very wide geographical distri- 

 bution, being found abundantly from the Arctic regions to Mexico, and throughout 

 North America, both on the Atlantic and the Pacific. Mr. Cassin considers the 

 arctiais of Swainson and the magellanicus of Gmelin as mere varieties of this spe- 

 cies. He does not appear to regard it as being a South American bird, where the 

 B. crassirostris has j)i'obably been mistaken for this species. Sir John Richardson 

 speaks of it as not uncommon in the Arctic regions. It is abundant in Canada, and 

 throughout all parts of the United States. Dr. Gambel met with it also in large 

 numbers in the wooded regions of Upper California. Dr. Heermann found it very 

 abundant around Sacramento in 1849, but since the increase in population it has 

 become comparatively rare. Dr. Woodhouse met with it in the Indian Territory, 

 though not abundantly. Lieutenant Couch obtained specimens in Mexico, and Mr. 

 Schott in Texas. 



This Owl usually breeds in the more unsettled and wooded parts of the country. 

 For the most part, it constructs for itself a large nest, composed of dry sticks, lined 

 with leaves and a few feathers. Mr. Audubon also states that he has found nests 

 belonging to the Great Horned Owl in large hollows of decayed trees, and twice in 

 the fissures of rocks. In all these cases, little preparation had been made pre'^'ious 

 to the laying of the eggs, as the nest consisted of only a few grasses and feathers. 

 I have never heard of instances of a construction of the nests in this manner, but 

 in all cases that have come under my observation this Owl has built for itself a large 

 and somewhat elaborate nest. Wilson, who found them breeding in the swamps of 



