Owls 



373. Screech Owl (Megascops asio). L. 9.4; W- 

 6.4; T. 3. Two color puases: with ear-tufts; eyes 

 yellow. Ad. Gray phase. Above buffy gray irreg- 

 ularly marked with bl.ick; below gray, white, rusty 

 and black. Ad. Red phase. Above bright rusty 

 brown with a few black streaks; below white streaked 

 with black and barred with rusty brown. Yng. Above 

 gray or rusty barred with black and white; below 

 white thickly barred with blackish. Notes A fre- 

 quently repeated tremulous, wailing whistle; often 

 followed by a slower refrain-like call; a castanet-like 

 snapping of the mandibles. 



Rnnpe. ET stern North America from Florida north to New Bruns- 

 wick. Ontario and Minnesota, west to the Great Plains; resident. 



373a. Florida Screech Owl (M. a. floridanus}. 

 Smalkr than No. 37;, \V. 6.0; T. 2.8. Two color 

 phases. Similar to those of No. 373, but averaging 

 darker and more heavily marked below; especially in 

 red phase. 



Rinee. Florida, north along coast to South Carolina; west along 

 coa^t to Louisiana. 



373b. Texas Screech Owl (M. a. mccalli} . Simi- 

 lar to No. 373, but smaller, W. 6.1; underparts, es- 

 pecially sides of belly, with more black bars; toes 

 barer. I have seen only a gray phase. 



Range. "From western and southern Texas across east border of 

 tablelands of Mexico." (Bailey.) 



373c. California Screech Owl (M. a. bendirei}. 

 W. 6.6. A gray color phase only. Resembling No. 

 373, but somewhat darker above; less buff about the 

 nape; black streamings more regularly distributed; un- 

 derparts much as in No. 373b. 



Range. California and southern Oregon. 



373d. Kennicott Screech Owl (M. a. kennicottii). 

 L. 10; W. 7. 25. Ads. Sooty brown prevailing above; 

 blackish markings below nearly if not fully as wide as 

 white ones; darkest of our Screech Owls. 



Range. - Pacific coast from Oregon to Sitka. 



37 3e. Rocky Mountain Screech Owl (M. a. max- 



WV//MT). W. 7. Similar to No. 373f above but paler; 

 pale grayish buff predominating; black markings 

 throughout much narrower and less numerous than in 

 No. 373g; palest of our Screech Owls. 



Ranee. "Foothills and adjacent plains of the east Rocky Moun- 

 tains from Colorado north to Montana" (Bendire). 



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3736. 



