168 LAND BIRDS 
366. AMERICAN LONG-EARED OWL. — Asio 
milsonianus. 
Famity: The Horned Owls and Hoot Owls. 
Length : 14.80. 
Adults : Conspicuous brown ear-tufts an inch or more in length ; face 
tawny ; upper parts mottled tawny, black, and ashy ; wings and 
tail barred ; under parts mottled buffy and white, the breast broadly 
streaked, the sides and belly irregularly barred with brown ; flanks 
tawny unspotted. 
Geographical Distribution : Temperate North America. 
California Breeding Range: Suitable localities in the interior valleys. 
breeding Season: In California, from February 15 to May 15. 
Nest: Occasionally an old magpie’s nest ; sometimes in hollow trees, 
cavities in rocks, old crow’s or hawk’s nests. 
Eggs: 3to6; white. Size 1.62 X 1.32. 
THE American Long-eared Owl breeds in the interior 
valleys and foot-hills, haunting the lower range of co- 
niferous timber. Unlike the short-eared owl, it never 
hunts in the daytime ; it is rarely found in the open, but 
hides through the sunny hours in the shade of the thick 
woods. 
It is not shy, and trusts to protective coloring rather 
than to flight. When discovered, “it sits upright, draws 
the feathers close to the body, and erects the ear-tufts, 
resembling in appearance a piece of weather-beaten bark 
more than a bird.” In flight it is swift and noiseless, 
and flits.about on moonlight nights like a huge black 
shadow. It has a habit of always flying to the same tree 
to devour its food, of taking a nap afterwards, and on 
awakening, of ejecting the undigested portions of food in 
little wads, which may be found in heaps under the tree. 
This is a curious performance ; the bird yawns once or 
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