BIRDS — STRIGINAE — BUBO VIRGINIANUS. 49 



BUBO, Cuvier. 



Bu6o, CuviER, Regne Animal, I, p. 331, (1817.) 



Size large ; general form very robust and powerful. Head large, with conspicuous ear tufts ; eyes very large ; wings long ; 

 tail short ; legs and toes very strong, densely feathered ; claws very strong ; bill rather short, strong, carved, covered at base by 

 projecting feathers. 



This genus includes the large horned owls, or cat owls, as they are sometimes called. These 

 birds are most numerous in Asia and Africa, and there are in all countries about fifteen species. 



BUBO VIKGINIANUS, Gmelin. 



The Great Homed Owl. 



Slrix virginiana, Gh. Syst. Nat. I, p. 287, (1788.) 



Strix pylhaules, Bartram, Travels, p. 989, (1791.) 



Bubo ludoviciana, Daudin, Traite d'Orn. II, p. 210, (1800.) 



Bubo pinicola, Vieill Ois. d'Am. Sept. I, p. 51, (1807.) 



Bubo ardicus, Swains. Faun. Bor. Am. Birds, p. 86, (1831.) 



Bubo sub-arclicus, Hot, Proc. Acad. Philada. VI, p. 211, (18.52.) 



Bubo septtntrionalis, Brehm, Vog. Deutsclil. p. 120, (1831.') 



Strix scandiaca, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, p. 132, (1766) ? 



Strix magellanicus, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, p. 286, (1788) .' 



Strix nacurutu, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. VII, p. 44, (1817) ? 



FiGDREs.— Edward's Birds II, pi. 60; Vieill. Ois. d'Am. Sept. I, pi. 19 ; Wilson Am. Cm. VII, pi. 50, fig. 1 ; Aud. B. of 

 Am. pi. 61 : Oct. ed. I, pi. 39 -, Nat. Hist. New York, pi. 10, fig. 22 ; Fauna Bor. Am. Birds, pi. 30. 



Mult. — Large and very strongly organized ; ear tufts large, erectile ; bill strong, fully curved : wing rather long ; third quill 

 usually longest ; tail short ; legs and toes very robust, and densely covered with short downy feathers ; claws very strong, 

 sharp, curved. Very variable in plumage, from nearly white to dark brown ; usually with the upper parts dark brown, every 

 feather mottled and with irregular transverse lines of pale ashy and reddish fulvous, the latter being the color of all the plumage 

 at the bases of the feathers. Ear tufts dark brown, nearly black, edged on their inner webs with dark fulvous ; a black spot 

 above the eye ; radiating feathers behind the eye, varying in color from nearly white to dark reddish fulvous, usually the latter ; 

 feathers of the facial disc tipped with black. Throat and neck before white ; breast with wide longitudinal stripes of black ; 

 other under parts variegated with white and fulvous, and every feather having transverse narrow lines of dark brown. Middle 

 of the abdomen frequently, but not always, white. Legs and toes varying from white to dark fulvous, usually pale fulvous ; 

 in most specimens unspotted, but frequently, and probably always in fully mature specimens, with transvere narrow bars of 

 dark brown. Quills brown, with wide transverse bands of cinereous, and usually tinged on the inner webs with pale fulvous ; 

 tail the same, with the fulvous predominating on the outer feathers ; iris yellow ; bill and claws bluish black. 



Dimensions. — Female, length 21 to 25 inches, wing 14^ to 16, tail 10 inches. Male, 18 to 21 inches, wing 14 to 15, tail 9 

 inches. The smallest specimen of the variety Pacificus. 



Hab. — The whole of North America, and probably South America. 



Variety. — Bubo virginianus atlanticus, Cassin, B. of Cal. and Texas, I, p. 178. 



Dark colored, as described above. Feathers of the face behind the eye always bright reddish fulvous, and the entire plumage 

 more marked with that color than in the other varieties below. 



This variety is found throughout the temperate regions of North America, and we have never 

 known any other to be noticed in the States on the Atlantic ocean, though the variety Arcticua 

 may occur. This- is the true B. virginianus of authors, and is figured by Wilson, Audubon, 

 and others. 



Variety. — Bubo virginianus pacificus, Cassin, B. of Cal. and Texas, I, p. 178. 



Dark colored, as above. Feathers of the face behind the eye ashy, generally, however, tinged with fulvous. General color 

 less tinged with fulvous than in the preceding variety, and frequently much paler, and approximating to the variety ardicus. 



7b 



