[338] BIRDS OF OREGON 



brownish; flanks buffy; upper parts mottled dark brown, light grayish, and buffy, 

 lighter colors -prevailing; wing quills and tail banded with dull brown; whole plumage 

 irregularly varied with buffy, tawny, whitish, and dusky. Young: wing quills and 

 tail feathers as in adult, rest of plumage dull buffy or ochraceous, everywhere barred 

 with dusky." (Bailey) (See Plate 60, A.~) Si%e: Male, wing 13.71, tail 8.34, culmen 

 i. 06; female, wing 14.78, tail 9.04, culmen 1.18. Nest: A cave or hollow in the rocks, 

 a hollow tree, or an old crow's or hawk's nest. Eggs: 2. to 3, white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and 

 Kansas west to Nevada, southeastern Oregon, northeastern California, Wyoming, 

 and Montana, north to central Alberta. In Oregon: Known as a winter bird. 



THIS SUBSPECIES, the Montana Horned Owl, differs from the Pacific Horned 

 Owl in having darker feet and legs, more or less heavily barred with 

 black, and in lacking or at least being less conspicuously marked with 

 the buffy wash, both above and below, that is found in the more common 

 form. Horned Owls are of common occurrence in Oregon, where their 

 fierce hunting calls are well known and where, particularly in eastern 

 Oregon, they are a familiar sight, usually perched in the heavier branches 

 of the cottonwoods and willows of the wooded stream bottoms. The 

 historical records of the Horned Owl in eastern Oregon are so much in- 

 volved in the shifting about from one subspecies to another that has 

 characterized the treatment of this group that it is impossible to trace 

 the various forms without having the actual specimens at hand. Out of 

 some thirty Oregon specimens available for our study we have three skins 

 from east of the Cascades, all winter birds, that are undoubtedly this 

 form. They were taken at Hermiston (December 10, 1916), Burns (Decem- 

 ber 17, 1919), and Silver Lake (November i6, 1910). The first two are 

 in Jewett's collection; the third, in Gabrielson's. 



Northwestern Horned Owl: 



Bubo virginianus lagophonus (Oberholser) 



DESCRIPTION. Similar to B. v. occidentalis but larger and with somewhat more con- 

 trast between the buffy and black-and-white markings of the under parts. Si%e: 

 Male, wing 13.95, tail 8.76, culmen 1.07; female, wing 14.74, tail 9.31, culmen 1.14. 

 Nest and eggs: Same as for other forms of Horned Owls. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds in Idaho, northeastern Oregon, and eastern Wash- 

 ington north through British Columbia and interior Alaska. In Oregon: Breeds in 

 Blue Mountain section and probably scatters out over eastern Oregon somewhat in 

 winter. 



WE HAVE THREE specimens of this big black-and-white looking subspecies, 

 the Northwestern Horned Owl, all in the Jewett collection. They are 

 from Pilot Rock (January 2.9), Wallowa (September 19), and Enterprise 

 (October 2.8). In addition, we have at various times had other skins 

 from this area that were of this form. 



