LONG-EARED OWL. 139 



finely marked with small curving spots of white; back and wings 

 dark brown, sprinkled and spotted with white, pale ferruginous 

 and dusky; primaries barred with brownish yellow and dusky, 

 darkening towards the tips; secondaries more finely barred, and 

 powdered with white and dusky ; tail rounded at the end, of the 

 same length with the wings, beautifully barred and marbled 

 with dull white and pale rusty, on a dark brown ground ; throat 

 and breast clouded with rusty, cream, black and white; belly 

 beautifully streaked with large arrow-heads of black; legs and 

 thighs plain pale rusty, feathered to the claws, which are blue 

 black, large and sharp; inside of the wing brownish yellow, 

 with a large spot of black at the root of the primaries. 



This was a female. Of the male I cannot speak precisely; 

 though from the numbers of these birds which I have examined 

 in the Autumn, when it is difficult to ascertain their sex, I con- 

 jecture that they differ very little in colour. 



About six or seven miles below Philadelphia, and not far 

 from the Delaware, is a low swamp,* thickly covered with 

 trees, and inundated during great part of the year. This place 

 is the resort of great numbers of the Qua-bird, or Night Raven, 

 (JLrdea nycticorax) where they build in large companies. On 

 the twenty-fifth of April, while wading among the dark recesses 

 of this forest, observing the habits of these birds, I discovered 

 a Long-eared Owl, which had taken possession of one of their 

 nests, and was sitting; on mounting to the nest, I found it con- 

 tained four eggs, and breaking one of these, the young appeared 

 almost ready to leave the shell. There were numbers of the 

 Qua-birds' nests on the adjoining trees all around, and one of 

 them actually on the same tree. Thus we see how unvarying 

 are the manners of this species, however remote and different 

 the countries may be where it has taken up its residence. 



* Commonly known by the name of Cocker's swamp, from time immemorial 

 a noted place for the shooting 1 of Woodcocks. 



