OF NEW ENGLAND. 329 
place for refuge. After long observation, I am satisfied that 
our bird feeds entirely on the smaller species of quadrupeds, 
for I have never found any portions of birds about their nests, 
nor even the remains of a single feather in the pellets which 
they regurgitate, and which are always formed of the bones 
and hair of quadrupeds.” 
(d). I can find no description of any note belonging to this 
species. 
II. OTUS 
(A) vuLGaARIs (var. WILsontANus). Long-eared Owl. 
(In Massachusetts, a resident throughout the year.) 
(a). About fifteen inches long. Ear-tufts conspicuous. 
General colors, fulvous and dark brown or blackish. Above, 
finely variegated, and mixed with whitish. Breast, etc., 
streaked, and also barred below. Tail (like the primaries, etc.) 
mottled and barred. Eyes partly encircled by black. 
(b). The nest is most often that of a crow or hawk, slightly 
repaired. Sometimes, however, it is a fresh one, built by the 
birds themselves in some dark wood of evergreen, from ten to 
fifty feet above the ground (‘‘on which,” by the way, ‘ the 
eggs are occasionally laid’). The eggs are pure white, as are 
those of most owls, and average about 1°60 X 1°35 of an inch. 
In Massachusetts, one set, varying in number from three to 
six, is laid about the middle of April. 
(c). The Long-eared Owls are perhaps the most numerous 
of American owls, and are common near Boston, where they 
remain throughout the year. In spite of their comparative 
abundance, they are rarely seen, since they frequent the woods 
by day, and only fly abroad at night, unless, as often happens, 
they are driven out and rabbled by the Crows. They are easily 
approached in a strong light, as their vision is dependent upon 
darkness, but they usually roost in thick swamps, or dark and 
unfrequented woods of evergreen. At dusk they become active, 
and silently hunt for their prey, sometimes flying over fields 
and meadows, and sometimes perching to watch for it, with 
their keen eyes. Their hearing being no less acute than 
