BIRDS OF EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS. 131 



137. Syrnium nebulosum, Gray. — Barred Oivl. 

 Common resident. Frequents the thick woods every- 

 where. May be approached closely on a bright day, as 

 it is then almost deprived of sight. 



138. Bubo Virginianus, Bon. — Great Homed Owl. 

 Rather common resident. Frequents the thick woods. 

 Sees well in the daylight, and is difficult to approach. 



139. Scops asiO, Mottled Owl, "Red Owl," "Screech 

 Owl." Common resident; nests in holes in trees. Very 

 variable in plumage, on which account many have sup- 

 posed there were two species. Mr. W. Brewster records 

 in the August number of the American Naturalist, 1869, 

 an instance of the young of a red mother being red and 

 gray; the red one being quite rufous, even when in the down, 

 and perceptibly different from the other. My young friend, 

 Frank Sanger, has also two young, both from the same 

 nest, one of which is red and the other gray ; there was no 

 difference in plumage, however, when they were both in the 

 down. Out of eight young which have fallen into my hands, 

 not one has been red. I have also a specimen in my posses- 

 sion, which I shot at Jullington, on the St. John's River in 

 Florida, which exactly divides these stages, or possesses both 

 colors so nicely blended and mixed that it is impossible to 

 decide which predominates. These cases alone prove that 

 we must look for other characters on which to base our 

 specific claims than merely the red and gray stages of 

 plumage. Throwing aside the claims that the red and 

 gray stages present as separate specific distinctions, is 

 there any rule that we can fix for this change of plu- 

 mage 1 I think not ; further than the supposition — which 

 I have not yet seen proven — that perfectly mature birds 

 may all agree in color. But while under one year old 

 the gray seems to be the normal stage, and the red the 

 unusual stage. Out of twenty young-of-the-year speci- 

 mens of this species that have come under my personal 



