THE NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY. IOI 



1896. Mr. B. T. Gault reports seeing a specimen of this species 

 in DuPage County on May 15, 1894. Mr. E. W. Nelson gives 

 the following record:* "Not uncommon during March and 

 April in spring, and during September and October in fall. Some 

 seasons this species is quite numerous, especially along the Lake 

 shore." 



The range of the Osprey includes the whole of North America, 

 from Alaska and Hudson Bay south to northern South America 

 and the West Indies. 



FAMILY STRIGID^J: BARN OWLS. 

 Genus STRIX Linnaeus, 1758. 



Strix pratincola Bonaparte. American Barn Owl 



Strix flammed "LINNAEUS." WILSON, Amer. Orn., VI, 1812, 57, pi. 



50, fig. 2. 



Strix pratincola BONAPARTE, Geog. & Comp. List, 1838, 7. 

 Strix flammea var. dmericand COUES, Key. 1872, 201. 

 Strix flammed var. pratincold B. B. & R., Hist. N. A/ner. B., Ill, 



1874, 13. 

 Popular synonym: MONKEY OWL. 



A very rare visitant. An adult male of this species is in the 

 collection of the Field Columbian Museum, which was shot just 

 outside the main entrance of the museum building in Jackson 

 Park, Chicago, on August 15, 1896. Mr. C. A. Tallman shot 

 a female near the "sag" at Worth, Illinois, on August 31, 1895. 

 Mr. J. Grafton Parker, Jr., reports the taking of a specimen at 

 Calumet Heights, Illinois, on November 30, 1899, by Mr. Gold. 

 It is quite possible that the Barn Owls may breed within our 

 limits, though very rarely. Mr. Fred Hilgard while collecting 

 at Kouts, Indiana, May 30, 1896, in company with Mr. Parker 

 and myself, shot an adult female. From the condition of its 

 abdomen, it was evident that the bird had nested in or very near 

 that locality. Mr. E. W. Nelson gives the following record :f 

 "Very rare visitant. A pair were caught in a trap near Chicago 

 some years since by Mr. C. H. Smith." 



Its range covers the United States, though much less common 

 in the northern portion and only occasionally seen in Canada, 

 and Mexico. It is wanting in unwooded districts. It breeds 

 northward to about latitude 41. 



*Birds of Northeastern Illinois, Bull, of the Essex Institute, Vol. VIII, 1876, 118. 

 tBirds of Northeastern Illinois, Bull, of the Essex Institute, Vol. VIII, 1876, 116. 



