ZOOLOGY. 155 



SCOPS ASIO, Bonaparte. 



The Mottled Owl ; the Screech Owl. 



Strix asio, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, p. 132, (1766.) 

 Strix naevia, GM. Syst. Nat. I, p. 239, (1788.) 

 Scops asio, BOXAP. Eur. and N. Am. Birds, p. 6. 

 Scops ano, (LiNN.) BAIRD & CASSIN, Gen. Rep. Birds, p. 57. 



FIGURES. Catesby s Nat. Hist. Carolina I, pi. 7; Vieill. Ois d Am. Sept. I, pi. 21; Temm. pi. col. 80 ; Wilson, Am. Orn. 

 pi. 19, fig. 1, pi. 42, fig. 1; Aud. B. of Am. pi. 97; oct. ed. I, pi. 40; Nat. Hist. New York, Birds, pi. 12, figs. 25, 26. 



SP. Cn. A small tufted owl. In adult the upper parts ashy brown, with streakings and mottlings of brownish black and 

 of cinereous. Below ashy white, striped with black and barred w th narrow black lines ; tail with about ten narrow cinereous 

 bands. 



Younger: nearly all upper parts pale brownish red, paler and white below; tail rnfous, with brown bands. 

 Yuung : entirely barred with ashy white and pale brown; wings and tail pale rufous. 

 Length, in both sexes, 9 to 10; wing, 7; tail, 3 inches. 



A specimen of this owl, in the mottled plumage, was obtained by me at Fort Vancouver, W. 

 T.-S. 



OTUS WILSONIAUS, Lesson. 



The Long-eared Owl. 



Otus Wilsonianus, LESSON, Traite d Orn. I, p. 110, (1831.) 



BAIRD & CASSIN, Gen. Rep. Birds, p. 53. 

 Otus Americanus, BOXAP. Comp. List, p. 7, (1838.) 

 Strix Americana, GM. Syst. Nat. I, p. 288, (1788?) 

 Strix ptrigrinalor, BERTRAM, Travels, p. 289, (1790?) 



FIGURES. Wilson, Am. Orn. VI, pi. 51, fig. 1; Aud. B. of Am., pi. 383; oct. cd. I, pi. 37; Nat. Hist. New York, Birds, 

 pi. 11, fig. 24. 



SP. Cu. Ear tufts long, above mottled, a brownish black hue predominating, mixed with ashy; breast pule fulvous, with dark 

 stripes and narrow bars; eye nearly encircled with black; rest of face ashy; tail brown, with several irregular bands of ashy 

 fulvous, and mottled. 



Female: Length, 15; wing, 11 to 12; tail, 6 inches. Jlhle rather smaller. 



No. 9143, (19,) John Day s river, Oregon Territory, November 12, 1853. Length 14.50; extent, 38. Female. 

 No. 8243, (225,) 100 miles east of Fort Kearney, Nebraska, October 28, 1857. Length, 14. 50; extent, 37. 50; wing, 12. 

 Iris, yellow; bill, bluish; toes, gray. 



The long-eared owl I only obtained once, on the banks of the Columbia, east of the Dalles, 

 November, 1853. In the same desolate and barren region, where the only trees are a few 

 small willows along the banks of the river, several species of owls are found, which, apparently, 

 have deserted their favorite forests for the sake of the hares and mice abounding in some parts 

 of this region. The Avillows scarcely diminish the brightness of the sunlight, w^hich strikes 

 down on them from morning to night. C. 



I obtained a bird of this species in a dense thicket, on a small branch of Milk river, Nebraska. 

 I suppose that, owing to the scarcity of hollow trees in that vicinity, the umbrageous shelter 

 of thick brush is used as a substitute. The owl appeared stupid and sleepy, and allowed a very 

 near approach. S. 



BRACHYOTUS CASSINII, Brewer. 



The Short-cured Owl. 



Brachyotus Cassinii, BREWER, Proc. Boston Soc. N. H. BAIRD & CASSIX, Gen. Rep. Birds, p. 54. 

 Strix brachyotus, FORSTER, Phil. Trans. London, LXII, p. 384, (1772.) 

 Brachyotus paluslris americamts, BONAP. Consp. Av., p. 51, (1849.) 



