130 
Distinctions. The strongly and well outlined heart-shaped facial disk, soft yellow 
coloration with a suggestion of pink, and the tarsi almost bare of feathers are distinctive. 
Nesting. In towers, steeples, or holes in barns, banks, or trees. 
Distribution. From the gulf of Mexico to the middle Atlantic states across the con- 
tinent. It oceurs in Canada only as a straggler along the southern border. 
This is the American representative of the ruin-haunting European 
owl so familiar in song and story. It is a wonderfully efficient mouser 
and a most valuable bird, but is rare in Canada. 
FAMILY—STRIGIDZ. HORNED OR EARED OWLS. 
The family is known as ‘‘Horned”’ from the tufts of feathers pro- 
jecting from the forehead in some of the species, though not in all. The 
feet are feathered to the ends of the toes (Figure 32, p. 23). The family 
includes all the Canadian owls except the Barn Owl previously described. 
366. American Long-eared Owl. FR.—LE HIBOU A OREILLES LONGUES. Asio 
wilsonianus. L, 14-80. A medium sized owl rather similar in coloration to the Great 
Horned Owl (p. 133), but much smaller and of more slender build. 
Distinctions. Although the colouring is suggestive of the Great Horned Owl, the differ- 
ence in size serves to distinguish the two. From the Short-eared Owl, which is of abont 
equal size, it may be distinguished by the prominent horns or ear tufts which spring close 
together from the forehead, by the general lack of stripes in its coloration, and by the 
conspicuous amount of black and white suffused over the body colour. 
Field Marks. The prominent horns standing nearly straight up from the middle of the 
forehead and the rusty brown facial disk differentiate this species from the next, the only 
species for which it might be mistaken. 
Nesting. In trees, usually in deserted crows’ nests or hawks’ nests 20 to 40 feet from 
the ground. 
Distribution. Throughout temperate North America, north to about the limit of 
cultivation. 
Evergreen or alder thickets on the edges of marshes or ash swamps are 
the preferred habitat of the species. During migration it is sometimes 
found in companies, resting by day in the dark recesses of wet woods. 
Economic Status. Of 92 stomachs examined, 1 contained a game 
bird (Quail); 15, other birds; 84, mice; 5, other mammals; and 1, insects. 
From this record it is evident that the species is not seriously destructive. 
Its mousing proclivities are sufficient to give it a claim to protection and 
its small size and nocturnal habits prevent its interference with young 
poultry. 
367. American Short-eared Owl. MARSH OWL. FR.—LE HIBOU A OREILLES 
courTES. Asio flammeus. L, 15-50. A medium sized owl with short, hardly visible ear- 
tufts. General colour ochraceous with considerable white lining on face, with sharply 
defined stripes of brown over all, narrower below and broader and more diffused above. 
Distinctions. The general light buff colour and the stripes of this bird are distinctive. 
The horns may be inconspicuous; when visible they rise, as do those of the last species, 
from between the eyes and stand upright. The lack of any black and white paiee in 
the coloration serves to distinguish this species from the Long-eared. 
Field Marks. The buff colour is the best field mark. 
Distribution. Nearly cosmopolitan. Occurs everywhere in Canada, breeding locally 
wherever found. 
This bird is a true marsh owl and is slightly more diurnal in its habits 
than many of its relatives. It is often seen in the dusk of the evening 
beating over the marshes in strong and hawk-like flight. As it lives in the 
