2CJ2 Hasbrouck, Distribution of North American Megascops. \\a\y 



?nala:, is a subspecific one ; while on the other hand, of the nine 

 strictly North American forms, only one, Megascops asio, is 

 specific. This is possibly due to the fact that the northern birds 

 have been more thoroughly studied than have the tropical ones, 

 and while much work has been done in this latter region, so 

 many localities remain to be explored that the future may show 

 an entirely different state of affairs. 



If we compare the map of distribution with the faunal areas, it 

 will be seen that the range of several of the subspecies coincides 

 very closely with the boundaries of certain faunas (a fact par- 

 ticularly noticeable in the United States), while others are 

 distributed over an area embracing two or more, a circumstance 

 which, viewed from the standpoint of evolution, would go to 

 show that those forms whose range is most widely diffused are 

 the oldest, while those circumscribed within certain life areas 

 have become more recently differentiated. 



In treating of the common Screech Owl (Af. asio), whose wide 

 distribution is so well known, it seems useless to mention records 

 for every State included in its range; accordingly a general state- 

 ment of distribution accompanied by outlying localities will be 

 sufficient, more especially since the accompanying map shows 

 the territory covered in full. With the remaining forms I shall 

 enter more into detail. 



Beginning with our own group, we have : — 



Megascops asio {Linn.). Common Screech Owl. 



This is the most widely distributed of the group, and doubtless 

 the oldest in North America, since the range is extended into 

 four of the principal life areas; namely, the Austroriparian, 

 Carolinian, Alleghanian, Canadian and portions of the Great 

 Plains faunas. No type exists. The species is first mentioned 

 by Catesby in 1 73 1 from the Carolinas, and this term "the 

 Carolinas" will forever have to suffice for type locality. It is 

 found throughout the Eastern United States from the northern 

 portions of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi 

 northward to southern Canada, and as far west as the central 

 and western parts of Nebraska and Kansas, in which latter region 

 it occurs occasionally along the timbered regions of the bottom 

 lands. In Texas its range is somewhat obscure, inasmuch as one 



