Genus BRACHYOTUS, Gould. 



Gen. Char. Ear-tufts very short and inconspicuous. General form rather strong; wings 

 long ; tail moderate ; legs rather long, which, with the toes, are fully covered with short feathers ; 

 claws long, very sharp, and rather slender ; head moderate ; eyes rather small, surrounded by 

 radiating feathers ; facial disc imperfect on the forehead and above the eyes ; tail moderate. 



ThLs genus contains four or five species only, the best known 

 of which is the Short-eared Owl ( Brachyoius pahistris) of Europe 

 and North America. 



Brachyotus palustris (Bcchst.) Gould. 



» SHORT-EARED OWL. 



PI.ATE XXIII. 



This unassuming but really handsome little Owl is perhaps 

 the most widely diffused species of the whole family. It inhabits 

 not only the whole of America, but also Europe, Asia and Green- 

 land, the West Indies and the Gallapagos. Specimens from all 

 these countries do not appreciably differ from one another, and 

 the habits of the bird are the same everywhere. Some ornitholo- 

 gists — belonging to that class which has done more to complicate 

 than simplify our nomenclature, but which now happily is in the 

 minority — have tried hard to distinguish the American individuals 

 as larger and much darker ; but in the hundreds, if not thousands, 

 of skins that have now been examined from every part of the 

 world, the same diversities in size and color alike distinguish the 

 individuals of each country ; and in Canada and the United States 

 we have forms ranging from almost albinism to the darkest known 

 stages. ■"' 



*An interesting state of the plumage of this Owl is exhibited by two pairs taken on Muskeget 

 Island, Massachusetts, about July i, 1870, by Messrs. C. J. Maynard and William Brewster, in 

 which the color is so light as to almost suggest their being albinos. They are many shades lighter 

 than the specimens of this group from the interior, and thow citarly, when taken in connection 

 with the light race of Arvicola riparius {Arvicola Bycwcri, Baird), also occurring on this small 



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