[34] BIRDS OF OREGON 



Dusky Horned Owl: 



Bubo virginianus saturatus Rid g way 



DESCRIPTION. "Like B. v. pallescens, but plumage extremely dark, face generally 

 sooty brownish mixed with grayish white; plumage usually without excess of 

 yellowish brown, sometimes with none." (Bailey) Si%e: Length (skins) 19-2.4, 

 wing 13.58-15.08, tail 8.07-9.53, exposed culmen 1.50-1.65. Nest: Same as for other 

 Horned Owls. Eggs: 2. to 4, white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Resident of Pacific Coast region from southern Alaska to 

 northern California. In Oregon: Permanent resident west of Cascades. 



THE FIRST REFERENCE in Oregon ornithological literature that seems to 

 refer to this subspecies, the Dusky Horned Owl (Plate 60, B), is Anthony's 

 (1886) statement that it probably occurs in winter in Washington County. 

 Prill (i89ib) listed it as a breeding bird in Linn County, and there is a 

 specimen in the Carnegie Museum that was taken at Beaverton, May 2.2., 

 1890. It is mentioned many times in the field notes of the Biological 

 Survey and in our own notes. We have available for examination num- 

 erous specimens in our own collections and several belonging to others, 

 and all skins seen from western Oregon clearly belong to this subspecies. 

 In habit, voice, and behavior this dusky representative of the race does 

 not differ appreciably from its paler-colored relative to the east. It is 

 the same fierce and aggressive hunter, able and willing to kill chickens, 

 turkeys, grouse, rabbits, squirrels, and even skunks, although it does 

 not carry olfactory evidence of so frequent an association with the latter, 

 as does the eastern bird. 



Like others of its group, the Dusky Horned Owl nests early in the 

 season, usually selecting an old hawk's or crow's nest for the home site. 

 Egg-laying commences in late February or early March, and full sets 

 have been taken in the early part of March. Braly has given us notes on 

 one nest found near Salem on March 18 that contained a single young 

 bird, which would indicate an exceptionally early laying period in that 

 case. He also took a set of three well-incubated eggs on March 19, 1932., 

 on Sauvies Island. 



Pacific Horned Owl: 



Bubo virginianus pacificus Cassin 



DESCRIPTION. Smallest of the forms found in eastern Oregon, much washed with 

 buffy and brown on both the back and under parts; feet and legs white, or at most 

 faintly buffy and slightly barred with blackish. Si%e: Male, wing 13.19, tail 8.01, 

 culmen LOT.; female, wing 14.11, tail 8.60, culmen 1.07. Nest and eggs: Similar to 

 those of other subspecies. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Most of California and eastern Oregon. In Oregon: Breeds 

 in south-central Oregon. 



MOST OF THE eastern Oregon breeding birds, as well as many of the winter 

 skins taken outside the Blue Mountains, are certainly closer to skins from 



