'JXO 



LONG EAKKI) OWL. 

 Asio Wilson ian us. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Ear tufts of eisht or ton feathers, arc Iohk and conspicuous; 

 eyes yellow and quite small. Tapper parts dusky, mottled 

 with gray, fulvous and brownish black; abdomen white; under 

 parts genei^ally grayish-white, with transverse and longitudinal 

 stiipes of black, brown and reddish-brown; feet and legs red- 

 dish-brown and upspotted; bill and claws black. 



Female measures about 15 inches in length; extent of wings 

 about 38. Male rather smaller. 



Habitat. — Temperate North America. Resident in Pennsyl- 

 vania. 



Owing to the fact that tliese birds oftentimes con- 

 ceal themselves during the daytime in cedar trees, the 

 local appellation of "Cedar Owl" has arisen. The 

 Long-eared owl is a resident and one of the most 

 abundant of the owl tribe in this State. While mosl 

 owls, in this region at least, usually lead a solitary 

 life or associate in pairs, we find the subject of this 

 sketch to be social and gregarious, associating often 

 in i>arties of from twelve to twenty-five individuals. 

 In winter if not molested they frequently take up a 

 residence in the dark retreats furnished by the numer 

 oils coniferous trees growing around tlie habitations 

 of man. 



DESIRABLE VISITORS. 



In relation to a party of tliese o\\]s l)i-. Win. K. 

 Stavely, Lahaska, Pa., says: 



"For over twenty years I have had congregated in my lawn 

 from fifty to seventy-five owls. They are peaceable and quiet; 

 only on raie occasions would you know one was about, oii 

 dull days and foggy evenings tho.\- weie flying about in all di- 

 rections. Xo\er in all that time ha\c I missed any poultry 

 or ha\e they inflicted any injury on anything of value. The 

 first I noticed of their presence was the discovery of quite a 

 pile of what appeared t(-> be mice hair and bones, and on Inves- 

 tlgatiun found the Norway fir was the loosiing place of to in^ 



