CO 



U. S. p. K. K. EXP. AND SURVEVS ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



List of specimens. 



Locality. 



Fort Benton 



Fort Pierre 



do 



do 



do 



Platte river 



do 



Running Water 



Loup Fork 



do 



35 miles west of Fort 

 Kearney. 



Fort Davis 



Pecos river 



Fort Thorn 



El Paso 



Fort Chadboume, Texas.. 



Tamaulipas. Me.'sico 



Minibres to Rio Grande .. 



When collected 



Sept. 20, 1853 

 April 5, 1855 

 June 25, 1856 

 June — , 1856 

 do 



Aug. 14, 1857 

 Aug. 4, 1857 



Aug. 3, 1857 



Whence obtained. 



Gov. Stevens 



Col. A. Vaughan. , 

 t.t. G. K. Warren . 

 do 



.do. 



Lt. F. T.Bryan... 



do 



Lt. G. K. Warren . 



do 



do 



Wm. M. Magraw. . 



Col. Graham 



Capt. J. Pope 



Dr. T. C.Henry... 

 Col. J. D. Graham. 

 Dr. Swift, U. S. A. 



Lt. Couch 



Dr. Henry 



140 



Collected by— 



Dr. Suckley... 

 Dr. Hayden... 



, do 



, do 



do 



W.S.Wood.. 



, do 



Dr. Hayden... 



.do. 



do 



Dr. Cooper., 



J. H. Clark . 



Measurements. 



9.20 

 9.00 

 9.00 

 9.50 



9.50 

 9.00 

 9.00 

 9.00 



2300 



23.50 

 22.50 



24.50 

 23.95 

 22.25 

 23.50 



6.25 



6.50 

 6.50 



7.25 

 6.75 

 6.00 

 6.75 



9.50 23.50 



itemarks. 



Iris yellow. 



do.... 



do.... 



Iris light yellow . 

 do 



Iris yellow ; bill gray- 

 ish 



ATHENE CUNICULAEIA, Molina. 



Burrowing Owl. 



Slrix cimicularia, Molina, Sagg. Stor. Nat. Chili, (1782.) 

 Strix californica, AuD. B. of Am. pi. 432, fig. 2, (name on plate.) 

 Jilhene pata^onica, Peale, Zool. U. S. Ex. Exp. Vincennes, Birds, p. 78. (1848.) 

 Figures. — .'Vud. B of Am. pi. 432, fig. 2 : Oct. ed. I, pi. 31, (lower figure.) 



Resemblinn- the preceding, but larger ; tarsus longer, and more fully feathered in front to the toea. Varieties of plumage the 

 same, but that first described most usually met with and more common than in the preceding. 



.^dult. — Upper parts liglit ashy brown, witli large spots of dull white enclosed in edgings of brownish black. Throat white ; a 

 transverse band of brownish black ami reddish white feathers across the neck in front, succeeded by a large patch of white. 

 Breast light brown, with large spots of while like the upper pans ; abdomen yellowish white, with hastate or crescent-shaped 

 spots of reddish brown disposed to form transverse bands; under tail covert?, tibia;, and tarsus, and under wing coverts 

 yellowish white ; quills and tail liglit brown, with spots of reddish white, edged (the spots) witli brownish black ; tail wi'.h 

 about six transverse bands or pairs of spots of reddish white, enclosed or edged with dark brown. This is the plumage repre- 

 sented in Audubon's plate above cited, and is more commonly met with than the same plumage in the preceding species. It is 

 very probably the mature plumage. Another plumage is : Adult.' Like that just described, but much lighter, and tinged with 

 dull yellow, or ochre, having a faded or bleached appearance. This plumage is not so frequent as in the preceding species. 

 Another plumage is : Younger? Upper parts light greyish brown, with white spots very irregular in shape and confused, and 

 frequently predominating on the head. Abdomen nearly unspotted, yellowish white, or with traces only of spots or bands. 



Total length, female, about lOj inches ; wing, 7 to 7j inches ; tail, 3j to 4 inches. Male rather smaller. 



Hab. — North America, west of the Rocky mountaihs, South America. Spec, in Nat. Mus. Washington and Mus. Acad. 

 Philadelphia. 



This owl may he immediately distinf^uished from the preceding by the more full feathering 

 of the tarsus, generally continued without interruption to the toes. The tarsus is also longer, 

 and in size the present bird is ratlier the larger. All these characters are well given in 

 Audubon's plate, cited above, though it is not very common to find the present bird with the 



