494 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ZOOLOGY, VOL. IX. 



It is known to breed in Wisconsin, where it is not uncommon, and is 

 resident throughout the year. 



Dr. Hoy states that its eggs have been taken near Racine. Kum- 

 lien and Hollister write: "It certainly used to breed in Jefferson 

 County and Thure Kumlien took specimens in May and at least 

 once in August." S. E. Willard states that it breeds in Brown and 

 Outagamie Counties (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sciences, Vol. VI, 1883, 

 p. 188). 



Nidification usually begins in April. The nest is placed in a hole 

 in some tree or stump, occasionally a deserted woodpecker's nest 

 being used. The eggs are white, from three to five in number, and 

 measure about 1.20 x i inches. 



Genus OTUS Pennant. 



180. Otus asio (LINN.). 

 SCREECH OWL. 



Megascops asio (Linn.), A. O. U. Check List, 1895, p. 145. 



Distr.: Eastern North America, Canada to Georgia; breeds nearly 

 throughout its range. 



Adult (gray plumage): Toes with small, scattered, bristly feathers; 

 not thickly feathered; well developed ear tufts, sometimes an inch long, 

 differing in this from the other small owls; upper plumage, brownish 

 gray, mottled with buff and streaked with black; under parts, gray 

 on the breast and dull white on the belly, streaked with black and 

 finely barred with buff and dusky; under surface of primaries, brown, 

 barred with brownish white. 



Adult (rufescent plumage) : Upper plumage, bright rufous brown, 

 with a few small black streaks, mostly on the crown and wing cov- 

 erts; under parts, whitish, mixed with rufous brown and streaked 

 with black; ear tufts, like back; face showing more or less white. 



Length, about 8.25 to 10; wing, 6 to 7 ; tail, 2.90. 



The Screech Owl is a common resident in Illinois and Wisconsin, 

 and is a familiar bird in wooded districts where, from its partiality 

 to mice and English sparrows, it is a decided benefit to the agricultur- 

 ist. While the majority of birds of this species appear to be gray, 

 it is dichromatic, having two distinct phases of plumage, one grayish 

 and the other bright rufous brown, which apparently have no relation 

 to age or sex, both red and gray birds being found occasionally in the 

 same nest. 



It utters a soft, trilling note, and again a harsh screech, varying 



