RAPTORES— STKIGIDAE— O. VULGARIS VAK. WILSONIANUS. 403 



Okder RAPTORES: Raptokial Birds. 



Fam. STRIGIDAE: Owls. 



OTUS VULGARIS (Linu.), van WILSONIANUS (Less.). 



liong-eared Owl. 



Otus wilsonianus. Less., Trans. Orn., 1831, 110. — Bd., P. R. R. Rep., Beckwith's Route, 

 X, 1857, 11.— Id., Birds N. A., 1858, 53.— Kennerly, P. R. R, Rep., Whip- 

 ple's Route, X, 1859, 20.— Henry, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1859, 105 

 (New Mexico). — Coop. & Suckl., P. R. R. Rep., xii, pt. ii, 18C0, 155. — 

 Hayd., Traus. Am. Pliil. Soc, xii, 1803, 153. — CouES, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., 

 Pliila., ISGG, 50.— Cooper, Birds Cal., i, 1870, 420.- Snow, Birds Kau.. 

 1872, 5.— Merriam, U. S. Geol. Surv. Terr., 1872, C95.— Yarrow, Rep. 

 Orn. Specs., 1871, Wheeler's Exped., 1874, 3G. 



Otus vulgaris var. wilsonianus, Allen, Bull. Mus. Couip. Zoiil., 1872, ISO. — CouES, 

 Key N. A. Birds, 1872, 204.— Bd., Brew., & Ridg., N. A. Birds, iii, 1874, 

 18.— Henshaw, An. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., xi, 1874, 9.— Yarrow & Ben- 

 SHAW, Rep. Orn. Specs., 1872, VVbeeler's Exped., 1874, 24. — Allen, Proc. 

 Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., June, 1874, 34. — Coues, Birds Northwest, 1874, 304. 



Possessing a general distribution in the West, this owl was found par- 

 ticularly numerous in Utah, where it is probably the most common of the 

 family. It seems to be a habit with this species in the West to congregate 

 together and form colonies, often made up of a large number of individuals. 

 I have, however, noticed this to be most frequently the case in regions where 

 timber was very scarce, and doubtless this lack of places suited to the 

 necessities of their nature, which requires them to jJfiss the hours of day- 

 light in some dark, secluded retreat, furnishes the reason for this apparent 

 sociability. In Grass Valley, Utah, I thus found at least a dozen individ- 

 uals together in a small grove of cedars, and nearly every tree contained 

 one of their nests, rudely made of coarse sticks, while some supported two 

 or three. The birds were roosting on the low branches in the darkest por- 

 tions of tlie clump, and they were generally so well concealed that I saw 

 them only as they dashed hurriedly out when I was close upon their retreats. 

 Though very reluctant to fly, they seemed to have no difficulty in threading 

 the mazes of the wood, flying very rapidly in and out among the trees, and 

 not alighting till they had found some snug little corner, as far from the 

 light as possible. They refused to leave the grove, and I could easily have 



