GENUS MEGASCOPS KAUP. 



MEGASCOPS ASIO (LINN.). 



164. Screech Owl. (373) 



One plumage : general aspect gray, paler or whitish below. Above, speckled 

 with blackish ; below, patched with the same ; wings and tail, dark-barred, 

 usually a lightish scapular area. 



Another : general aspect brownish-red, with sharp black streaks ; below, 

 rufous white, variegated ; quills and tail with rufous and dark bars. These 

 plumages shade insensibly into each other, and it has been determined that 

 they bear no definite relations to age, sex or season. Length, about 10 ; wing, 

 7 ; tail, 3J. 



HAB. Temperate eastern North America, south to Georgia, and west to 

 the Plains. Accidental in England. 



Nest, in a hole in a tree, lined with feathers. 



Eggs, four to six, round, white. 



This is the most abundant of the owls in this part of the country, 

 yet, like the others, it is of very irregular occurrence. I have met 

 with it once or twice in the woods in summer, but it is most fre- 

 quently seen in winter, when the ground is covered with snow. It is 

 then forced to approach the dwellings of man in search of food, and 



