154 ZOOLOGY. 



Family S TRI GID A E — wl s. 

 Sub-family BUBONINAE.— H or ne d Owls. 



BUBO TIRGINIANUS, Bonaparte. 



Great Horned On-I. 



Sirix vlrginiana, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, p. 287, (1788.) 



S. nwgtHamcus, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, p. 286, (1783 ?) 



Bubo virginianut, Bonap. Comp. List, p. 6. 



S. virginianus, (Gm.) Baird & Cassis, Gen. Rep. Birds, p. 9. 



S. arcticus, SivAis. F. B. Am Birds, p. 86, (1831.) 



B. mbarciicus. Hoy, Proc Acad. Sc Philad VI, 212. 



Figures — Wilson, Am Orn. VII, pi. r>f), fig. 1 ; And. B. of Am. pi. 61 : oct. ed. I, pi. 39; Nat. Hist. New York, pi in, 

 fig 22; Fauna Bor. Am. Birds, pi. 30. 



Sp. Ch — Very large; ear tufts long, erectile; color varying from nearly white to dark brown; above darkest, and mottled 

 irregularly with transverse lines of pale ashy and reddish. Throat and neck tchilt, breast with dark stripes, other parts somewhat 

 fulvous, mi.xed w ith brown and white. 



Female: length, 21 to 25; wing, 14^ to 16; tail, 10 inches. 



Male: length, 18 to 20 ; wing, 14 to 15 ; tail, 9 inches. 



The largest horned or tufted owl in America, varying in size, though the smallest males are over eighteen inches long, and 

 their wing fourteen inches. Usually dark colored, and (yir. padficus) with an ash-colored face, while others {var. atlanticiis) have 

 it fulvous. The pale variety {arcticut) is sometimes nearly white, but more commonly yellowish. All of these forms are found 

 in the Territory. 



No. 9159 ( — ,) Okanagan R., Sept. 27, 1853. Length, 27; extent, 52 'mciies,{mr. padficus.) 



The great horned owl is a common and constant resident in all parts of the Territory I have 

 visited, but principal!}^ among dark forests, where it sits dozing through the day, unless dis- 

 covered by some crow or other bird, when its chance for rest is gone, until the shades of night 

 disperse its persecutors, and give it an opportunity of taking ample revenge. — C. 



The great horned owl is very abundant about Puget Sound. I obtained fully half a dozen 

 skins, all resembling in character the description given by Cassin of the variety j)oc;/ic«s. The 

 aborigines near Fort Steilacoom, when they hear one of these birds uttering his deep, hooting 

 sounds near their lodges at night, are much alarmed. As usual, they consider that it is a 

 warning of the approach of death, or some other great calamity — thus showing another 

 instance of the almost universal, superstitious dread, which, in various parts of the world, is 

 inspired by birds of this family. 



In July, 1856, I obtained two individuals alive, which, although fed and kindly treated for 

 several months, abated not a whit their original ferocity. At the approach of any one — 

 even their habitual feeder — they instantly manifested vindictiveness, rage, hatred, and defiance, 

 and kept up a hissing noise, interrupted by loud snapping sounds, produced by "gnashing" 

 their bills. 



AVhile in the Rocky mountains I found owls quite plentiful, and at night heard frequently 

 the hooting of individuals of some large species, which, although kept up at about the same 

 intervals as those produced by the present kind, were much more feeble. — S. 



