( 25 ) 



h.is gun the Barred Owl, which at the same moment discovered its 

 mistake — and while endeavoring to retrieve the fatal error, was shot 

 down by the astonished gunner. 



The wing quills are furnished with soft and downy feathers, which 

 enable it to pass through the air in a ntDiseless manner. I found it 

 very abundant in the marshes and forests in the neighborhood of 

 New Orleans ; indeed you can scarcely make even a short excur- 

 sion from the city without meeting with several specimens. 



GENUS OTUS — CUVIER. 



EARED OWL. 



[Bill short, stout, compressed toward the end ; head furnished with rather long 

 tufts of feathers ; tail rather short, a little rounded.] 



OTUS VULGARIS— FLEMING. 



LONG-EARED OWL. 



Strix otus, Wiis. Amer. Cm. 



Strix otus, Bonap. Syn. 



Long-eared Owl, Strix otus, Nutt. Man. 



Long-eared Owl, Strix otus, And. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — Tufts elongated ; upper parts mottled with dark 

 brown grayish-white and reddish buff; lower parts streaked and 

 crossed with dark brown and marked with large white spots ; the 

 feathers towards the base reddish buff; tail with twelve narrow 

 blackish-brown bands ; the middle pair with nine broader bands. 

 Aduk with the tufts long ; head with small brown and dull white 

 spots ; uppper parts mottled ; primaries barred with buff and dusky 

 toward the tips, with greenish-brown and brownish black ; tail with 

 narrow blackish-brown bands, and tipped with white. Length four- 

 teen inches ; wing twelve. 



This is another of those nocturnal wanderers that are said to in- 

 habit generally the North American continent. In plumage it is 

 nearly allied to the Short-eared Owl, from which it is at all times 

 distinguishable by the greater length of the tufts or ear feathers. 

 With us, I have only known it to occur during winter, and have 

 usually observed it in the woods or thickets. 

 4 



