216 OWLS. 



two or three white or buffy wliite bars; tail with six to eight similar bars; 

 facial disk gray, finely barred or mottled witli fuscous; under parts white, 

 more or less tinged with butfy, the breast barred, the sides and belly broadly 

 streaked with fuscous; bill yellow; legs and feet featliercd to or near the bases 

 of the nails ; eyes brownish black. L., 2()V0 ; W., lo-50 ; T., 9-50 ; B,, 1-50. 



Range. — Eastern North America, northward to IN ova Scotia and Manitoba ; 

 resident, except at the northern limit of its range. 



Washington, not common F. K. Sing Sing, rare 1*. R. Cambridge, rare 

 P. K., sometimes common in Nov. and Dec. 



Ned., in a hollow tree ; sometimes in an old Crow's or Hawk's nest. Eggs., 

 two to four, 2-00 x 1-65. 



The deep-toned, questioning voice, the absence of " horns;," and the 

 dark-brown, nearly black eyes, combine to make Barred Owls appear 

 among the most human of these strangely human birds. They inhabit 

 large tracts of woodland, and are generally resident in certain localities. 

 Their notes are uttered more or less throughout the year, but are more 

 frequently heard during the nesting reason. As a rule they call only 

 during the first part of the night and again before sunrise, but on 

 moonlight nights they call throughout the night, and occasionally 

 they may be heard during the day. They readily respond to an imi- 

 tation of their cries, and even at midday 1 have drawn them from 

 their nesting place to meet a supposed intruder on their domain. Un- 

 der favorable circumstances they may be heard at a distance of at 

 least half a mile. 



Their usual call is a sonorous wMo-ivhoo-whoo, ivhd-wJwd, to-ivhoo- 

 dh. This is varied, both as to relative position and length of the 

 syllables, by the same individuals, and is apparently the cry of ques- 

 tion and response. When two birds, perhaps rival males, come to- 

 gether, there ensues a striking medley of ivhd-whds mingled with roll- 

 ing ivlwu-dhs, the whole reminding one of deep-voiced, mirthless 

 laughter. Sometimes two birds give a concerted performance. One 

 utters about ten rapid hoots, while the other, in a slightly higher tone, 

 hoots half as fast, both performers ending together with a ivlwo-dh. 

 At times they utter a single, prolonged whdo-dh, and more rarely a 

 weird, gasping shriek emphasized at its conclusion like a cry of dis- 

 tress. 



"Of 109 stomachs examined, 5 contained poultry or game; 13, 

 other birds: 46, mice; 18, other mammals; 4, frogs; 1, a lizard; 2, 

 fish; 14, insects; 2, spiders; 9, crawfish; and 20 were empty" 

 (Fisher). 



368a. S. n. alleni A'idgw. Florida Barred Owl.— Similar to the 

 preceding, but averaging somewhat darker, and with the toes nearly naked. 

 W., 12-50; T., 8-50. 



Ba/ige.— Florida, and region of the Gulf coast to Texas. 



