HORNED OWLS, ETC. 179 



and broadly tipped with whitish ; tail banded ; under parts whitish, barred and 

 spotted with brown. Length: 19, wing- 12.00-13.50, tail 8.50-9.00, bill .90. 

 Distribution. From southern Colorado and New Mexico to California 

 and south to Lower California and northwestern Mexico. 



The spotted owl is the western representative of the barred owl, 

 and is so closely confined to the thinly settled mountain regions of 

 the west that little is known of its habits. Mr. Lyman Belding 

 compares its call to the barking of a dog. 



369a. S. O. caurinum Merriam. NORTHERN SPOTTED OWL. 



Similar to the spotted owl, but darker, with white spots and markings 

 restricted, especially on head and back ; wing 1 quills darker, the broad 

 white tip almost obsolete. Wing : 12.10 ; tail (middle feathers) 8.06. 



Distribution. Coast region of Washington and British Columbia. 



GENUS SCOTIAPTEX. 



370. Scotiaptex cinerea (GmeL). GREAT GRAY OWL. 



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 yel- 

 low, 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 streak- 

 ing ; flanks and legs barred. Length : 25-30, extent 54-60, wing about 

 16-18, tail 11.00-12.50. 



Distribution. Northern North America, south in winter to the northern 

 border of the United States. 



Nest. In evergreens, made of sticks, feathers, and sometimes mosses. 

 Eggs : 2 to 4, white. 



Food. Mainly rabbits, mice, and other small mammals, together with 

 birds. 



" Its great predilection for thick woods, in which it dwells doubt- 

 less to the rery limit of trees, prevents it from being an inhabitant 

 of the barren grounds or other open country in the north. It is 

 crepuscular or slightly nocturnal in the southern parts of its range, 

 but in the high north it pursues its prey in the daytime. In the 

 latter region, where the sun never passes below the horizon in sum- 

 mer, it is undoubtedly necessity and not choice that prompts it to be 

 abroad in the daylight. . . . The note of this owl is said to be a 

 tremulous, vibrating sound, somewhat resembling that of the screech 

 owl." (Fisher.) 



GENUS NYCTALA. 



General Characters. Wing 5.25-7.40; ear tufts wanting ; ear openings 

 nearly equal to height of skull, with anterior flap, the two ears conspic- 

 uously different ; feet thickly feathered to claws. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Wing 6.50 or more richardsoni, p. 180, 



1'. Wing less than 6. 



