080 
down badly mutilated, the head being severed from the body, the latter 
falling at our feet. It proved to be a fine, large specimen of this owl. 
Some time during the following February, and near the same place—about 
twelve miles from Port Stanly—an individual of the same species attacked, 
and instantly killed a large rooster, that had previously come off victor in 
many an encounter with the hawks. The head of the gallant bird was 
struck from its body by the owl, within a few yards of the barn, and in 
sight of the farmer. Coming up ashort time afterwards, the owl was 
pointed out, sitting on the trunk of a tree, whose top had been blown off. 
The first shot secured it in excellent condition; the skin, however, was 
unfortunately lost six months afterwards. 
Both these birds were lighter colored than Audubon’s plate, and of a 
bluer shade. They bore a closer resemblance to the figure of the same 
species in Macgillivray’s edition of Cuvier’s Animal Kingdom, with which 
they were compared at the time. There were, however, no notes taken 
that would enable a description to be given at this time. 
As the Cinereous owl will never, in all probability, be a common bird 
in Ohio, our farmers need not be afraid of its ravages. It feeds on rabbits 
and other small quadrupeds, chickens, grouse, quail, or any other bird that 
it can capture. It is bold and courageous, and a dangerous visitor to the 
barn-yard. It is not likely that it breeds in the State. 
The following description is from “Cassin’s Birds of California,” &¢ :— 
“Large; head very large; eyes small; tail long. ApuLrt—Entire upper 
parts smoky-brown, nearly every feather more or less mottled, and trans- 
versely barred with ashy-white; under parts smoky brown; feathers on 
the breast edged with ashy-white, and on the abdomen edged and trans- 
versely barred with ashy-white; in some specimens, all the feathers are 
ashy-white, with wide, longitudinal stripes of smoky-brown; legs brown, 
with numerous ashy-white transverse stripes; quills brown, with about five 
wide irregular transverse bands of ashy-white; in some specimens, tinged 
with reddish-yellow; these bands mottled with brown; tail brown, with 
about five wide irregular bands of ashy-white, which bands are mottled 
with brown; throat black; discal feathers on the neck tipped with yellow- 
ish-white; eye nearly encircled by a black spot; radiating feathers around 
the eye, with irregular transverse narrow bars of dark-brown and ashy- 
white; bill pale-yellow; claws pale, dark at their tips, sexes alike. DIMEN- 
SIONS of female—total length, 26 inches; wing, 18 inches; tail, 12 inches.” 
