144 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



Long-eared Owls breed in many localities, in fact quite generally, throughout the 

 state, and owing to the circumstance that sometimes they roost, in the daytime, in 

 cedar trees, they are termed by many "Cedar " Owls. The Short-eared Owls frequent 

 meadows, swamps and grassy fields. Hunters who most frequently come across 

 them know them as " Marsh " or " Swamp " Owls. The Short-eared owl is common 

 in winter, and is said to breed here in rare instances. The Barred Owl is a resident 

 and breeds generally throughout the state ; it is most numerous in the mountainous 

 and wooded districts. In different parts of Wayne, Susquehanna and Wyoming 

 counties, where the Barred owl is common, it is called " Rain Owl." To distinguish 

 an owl irom a hawk remember the owl's eyes are situated in the front of the head 

 and look forward, while the hawk's eyes are directed to either side. The extremely 

 soft and downy plumage of these birds is such that their flight is almost noiseless. 

 During the daylight we , usually, find them concealed in hollow trees, or dense foli- 

 age, preferably cedar thickets. While it is generally an accepted fact that owls are 

 nocturnal in their habits, it is not true that they are exclusively so. The Short-eared 

 and Barred Owls are of a decidedly diurnal nature ; and in cloudy weather or in early 

 twilight it is not unusual to see the Great Horned Owl sally forth in quest of prey. 

 Birds of this suborder, unlike certain other species of the Raptores, never, it is 

 stated, unless reduced to the utmost extremity, feed on carrion, but subsist on such 

 food as they are able to kill. Their dietary, although variable with locality and cir- 

 cumstances, consists mainly of small quadrupeds (principally field mice), insects, 

 chiefly beetles and grasshoppers, and some few of the smaller kinds of birds. 

 "Many species are capable of living without water for months at a time, though 

 some of them drink it readily and often bathe freely." Benjamin M. Everhart, the 

 well-known Pennsylvania botanist, had in captivity, for a period of about two years, 

 a Great Horned Owl, and during this time he says it never would drink water. The 

 owls, like many other birds of prey, eject from the mouth, in small ball-like masses, 

 the indigestible portions of their food, such as hair, bones, etc. These little balls or 

 pellets, as they are usually called, are frequently to be found in great quantities 

 about localities where these birds resort during the daytime. The eggs are white, 

 nearly round, and commonly number from three to five; deposited generally in 

 hollow trees or the deserted nests of hawks and crows. Their cries are loud and 

 dismal. 



The general form of Owls, is short and heavy ; the head and eyes are usually very 

 large ; bill very much like a hawk's, but never toothed, and often almost hidden by 

 long bristle-like feathers ; eyes encircled by a ring of radiating bristly feathers ; 

 tarsi, and in most species toes, also densely feathered. In some species the heads 

 are furnished with long erectile tufts of feathers, which are commonly called horns; 

 ears in some species remarkably large. 



FAMILY STRIGIDJE. BARN OWLS. 



GENUS STRIX LINN^US. 

 Strix pratincola BONAP. 



American Barn Owl. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 17). 



Length of female about 16 inches ; extent of wings about 43 inches. Male rather 

 smaller ; no ear tufts ; facial disc well developed but not circular ; eyes blackish- 

 blue and rather small ; lower part of long tarsus has short stiff feathers ; toes nearly 

 naked, but with some hair-like feathers ; feathers of body downy. Colors brownish, 

 ashy and white. 



Habitat. Warmer parts of North America, from the middle states, Ohio valley, 

 and California southward through Mexico. 



