[348] BIRDS OF OREGON 



Northern Spotted Owl: 



Strix occidentalis caurina (Merriam) 



DESCRIPTION. Upper parts dark brown, head and neck spotted with round white 

 spots, wing quills spotted with pale brown and white and slightly tipped with 

 whitish; tail banded, under parts whitish, barred and spotted with brown. (Adapted 

 from Mrs. Bailey.) Si^e: Length 16-19, wing iz-i3, tail 8-9. Nest: In a hollow 

 tree or crevice in a cliff. Eggs: z to 3, white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Permanent resident from British Columbia to San Francisco 

 Bay, California. In Oregon: Permanent resident west of Cascades. 



THE NORTHERN SPOTTED OWL (Frontispiece and Plate 61, 5), a strictly 

 nocturnal resident of the thick fir and spruce forests, is rarely seen except 

 by accident, and little is known regarding its abundance or habits in 

 Oregon. Jewett (i9i6b) published the first record for the State, an adult 

 male taken at Netarts April ix, 1914. Shelton (1917) listed a specimen 

 in the University of Oregon collection. Prill (192.8) recorded one taken 

 at Scio November i, 192.4. In 192.9, we published the record of one taken 

 near Oswego, November 15, 1914, by E. F. Gonty and referred to two 

 specimens without data in the Portland City Museum, presumably taken 

 near Portland (Jewett and Gabrielson 192.9). A specimen taken Novem- 

 ber 9, 1914, by W. H. Riddle at Ocean View is now in Jewett's collection. 

 W. E. Sherwood located a nest containing young near Trail, Jackson 

 County, in June 192.5. He kept several of these young birds as pets, 

 taking numerous photographs of them, and collected at least one of the 

 birds, which went into the Dr. L. C. Sanford collection. In addition to 

 these known specimens, there are a few sight records by competent 

 observers. In the migration reports to the Biological Survey, Overton 

 Dowell, Jr., reported seeing one at Mercer, April 2.5, 1910, and Vernon 

 Bailey (field notes) saw one at Eugene between June 15 and 2.0, 1914. 

 Gabrielson saw a single bird near Corvallis on December 2.7, 1918. It 

 swooped at him while he was "squeaking" to attract the attention of 

 some small birds. These notes are given in detail to show how little we 

 know about this bird that is probably much more common than these 

 records indicate. 



Great Gray Owl: 



Scotiaptex nebulosa nebulosa (Forster) 



DESCRIPTION. "Ear tufts wanting; ear openings large, with conspicuous anterior 

 flap, the two ears strikingly different; bill and feet small, bill inconspicuous among 

 facial feathers; toes entirely covered with feathers; eyes yellow, eye ring black; face 

 with concentric rings of gray and dark brown; upper parts sooty, mottled with gray 

 and blackish; wing quills and tail banded; under parts mixed sooty and whitish, with 

 irregular sooty streaking; flanks and legs barred. Length: 2.5-30, extent 54-60, wing 

 about 16-18, tail 11.00-12.. 50." (Bailey) Nest: A bulky nest of sticks, lined with 

 feathers and moss. Eggs: 2. to 4, white. 



