70 AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE OF MICHIGAN. 



phases of color, the gray and the brown, the gray is usually the most common, though 

 occasionally the reverse seems true. 



GENUS BUBO Cuv. 



Great Horned Owl, much reduced. 



168-:*75-(462). Bubo virginianus (Gmel). *GREAT HORNED OWL; HOOT OWL. 



Very common; throughout the state; all seasons; "occurs at Republic, Upper 

 Peninsula" (L. W. Watkins); " common in Monroe Co." (Jerome Trombley); "rare at 

 Ann Arbor" (Dr. J. B. Steere); "common in Grand Traverse Co." (Dr. M. L. Leach); 

 ' Keweenaw Point" (Kneeland); E. E. Brewster reports it from Iron Mountain; breeds; 

 nests in February and March, in thick forests, in trees, nests of other birds especially. 

 or in hollows of trees; " Frank Judson, of Kalamazoo, has found many nests, sometimes 

 with a single egg, usually two, but in rare cases three " (Dr. M. Gibbs); F. M. Falconer 

 found a nest Feb. 25, 1891, and the April following the Red-tailed Hawk occupied the 

 same nest, each bird had occupied this nest in turn for years; eggs one to four, white, 

 nearly spherical; two eggs taken at Plymouth March 20, 1892, by J. B. Purdy; this owl 

 is often taken in hen houses; it should not be confused with the long-eared owl, though 

 it is often called by that name; it is nearly as common here as the Screech and com- 

 mon Barred Owls. "Very valuable in rabbit infested districts, though sometimes 

 troublesome in destroying poultry " (Dr. A. K. Fisher). One taken at the college, May 

 9, 1893, had entered a poultry house and destroyed three chickens. It was a large 

 female and had only minute eggs in the ovaries. 



