86 STRIGID^ : OWLS. 



Family STRIGID^: Owls. 



BARN OWL. 

 Aluco flammeus pratincola {Bp) Coues. 



Chars. Facial disc highly developed. No tufts on head. Ex- 

 ternal ear very large, operculate. Plumage very downy. Colors 

 above, tawny, clouded with ashy and whitish, speckled with black- 

 ish. Below, varying from whitish to fulvous, with sparse, sharp 

 blackish spots ; face white or fulvous, dark about the eyes, and 

 bordered with dark brown. Wings and tail barred with brown, 

 and mottled like the back. Feet bristly, but not densely feathered. 

 Length, 16.00-17.00; wing, 12.00-13.00; tail, 5.50 ; bill whitish ; 

 toes yellowish. 



Of the thirteen species of Owls found in New Eng- 



FiG. 15. — Foot of Barn Owl. Natural size. 



land, the present is the rarest, excepting the Burrowing 

 Owl, which only occurs accidentally. The Barn Owl is 

 little more than a straggler to southern New England ; 

 and the recorded instances of its occurrence are very 

 few. Many years ago, a specimen was taken by the 



