126 BARRED OWL— COMMON GRAY OWL. 



veyors' or hunters' camp-fire in the Province of Ontario, and I 

 have known some to be exceedingly venturesome on such occa- 

 sions. Strange to say, I have not been able to find any authentic 

 account of these birds nesting in Canada, although they undoubt- 

 edly do so, being met with at all seasons. The young, however, 

 have often been taken " in the down," proving clearly that their 

 nesting site was not far distant. According to Coues; they breed 

 in March, in the Atlantic and Gulf States ; but it would be April 

 before they could do so in Canada. Their nest is sometimes built 

 in the branches of a tree, but more generally the eggs are laid in th.^ 

 hollow of a tree. Occasionally they are said to make use of ths 

 nest of a Hawk or a Crow. The eggs are white and subspherical, 

 measuring about 2 inches in length by i^ in breadth. They 

 ranee from five to six in number. 



I should have mentioned that this Owl is not known to occur 

 west of the Rocky Mountains, ; but Dr. Cooper, in his " Birds of 

 California," remarks : " As it is, however, exceedingly improbable 

 that a bird of such wide range in other parts of North America 

 should not cross the mountains, we introduce it here in anticipation 

 of the period of its detection in the mountains of California, which 

 will undoubtedly occur sooner or later." To the west of the Rocky 

 Mountains, according to Coues, the Barred Owl " is to some extent 

 replaced by the allied but perfectly distinct 6". occidentalc, dis- 

 covered by Mr. Xants, at Fort Tejon, California, and subsequently 

 observed in Arizona by Lieut. Bendire, United States Army." 



Si'. Char. Much smaller than the Cinereous Owl. Head large, without ear -tufts ; tail 

 rather long ; upper parts light ashy-lirown, frequently tinged with "dull yellow, with transverse 

 narrow bands of white, most numerous on the head and neck behind, broader on the back ; breast 

 with transverse bands of brown and white ; abdomen ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of 

 brown ; tarsi and toes ashy-white, tinged with fulvous, generally without spots, but frequently 

 mottled and banded with dark brown ; quills brown, with six or seven transverse bars nearly pure 

 white on the outer webs, and ashy-fulvous on the inner webs ; tail light brown, with about five bands 

 of white, generally tinged with reddish-yellow ; feathers of disk tipped with white ; face ashy-white, 

 with lines of brown, and a spot of black in front of the eye ; throat dark brown ; claws horn-color. 

 Bill pale yellow ; irides bluish black. Sexes alike. 



Total length, about 20.00 to 24.00 ; wing, 13.00 to 14.00 ; tail, 9.00. 

 Female invariably larger than the male. — H. G. V. 



Messrs. Sclater and Salvin's S. fidvescens is the Mexican 

 variety of this species. 



