146 



BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



These owls subsist principally on mice especially meadow mice 

 rats and various insects. Sometimes they catch and devour small birds, 

 but never, I think, molest poultry, either old or young". 



In the stomachs of five Barn Owls I found the following 1 food materials: 



FAMILY BUBONIDJE. HORNED OWLS, ETC. 



GENUS ASIO BRISSON. 

 Asio wilsonianus (LESS.). 



American Long-eared Owl ; Cedar Owl. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 86). 



" Ear tufts long and conspicuous ; eyes rather small ; wings long ; tarsi and toes 

 densely feathered ; upper parts mottled with brownish-black, fulvous, and ashy- 

 white, the former predominating ; breast pale-fulvous, with longitudinal stripes of 

 brownish-black ; abdomen white ; every feather with a wide longitudinal stripe, and 

 with transverse stripes of brownish-black ; legs and toes pale-fulvous, usually un- 

 spotted, but frequently with irregular narrow transverse stripes of dark-brown ; 

 eye nearly encircled with black ; other feathers of the face ashy-white ; with minute 

 lines of black ; ear-tufts brownish-black edged with fulvous and ashy-white ; quills 

 pale-fulvous at their bases, with irregular transverse bands of brown ; interior 

 coverts of the wing pale-fulvous, frequently nearly white ; the larger widely tipped 

 with black ; tail brown, with several irregular transverse bands of ashy-fulvous, 

 which are mottled, as on the quills ; bill and claws dark ; irides yellow. 



"Total length : Female about 13 inches; extent about 38; wing 11 to 11| ; tail 6 

 inches. Male rather smaller" B. B. of N. A. 



Habitat. Temperate North America. 



Owing to the fact that these birds oftentimes conceal themselves dur- 

 ing" 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 all the owl tribe in this state. While owls usually lead a solitary life 

 or associate in pairs, we find the subject of this sketch to be social and 

 gregarious, associating commonly in parties of from twelve to twenty- 

 five individuals. During the winter months, if not molested, they often 

 take up a residence in the dark retreats furnished by the numerous conif- 

 erous trees growing around the habitations of man. In relation to a 

 party of these owls Dr. William R. Stavely, Lahaska, Bucks county, 

 Pa., writes me as follows : " For over twenty years I have had congre- 

 gated in my lawn from fifty to seventy -five owls. They are peaceable 

 and quiet, only on rare occasions would you know one was about. On 



