150 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



GENUS SYRNIUM SAVIGNY. 

 Syrnium nebulosum (FOBST.). 



Barred Owl ; Rain Owl. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 87}. 



"Head large, without ear-tufts ; tail rather long ; upper parts light ashy-brown, 

 frequently tinged with dull-yellow, with transverse narrow bands of white, most 

 numerous on the head and neck behind, broader on the back ; breast with transverse 

 bands of brown and white ; abdomen ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of brown; 

 tarsi and toes ashy-white, tinged with fulvous, generally without spots, but fre- 

 quently mottled and banded with dark-brown ; quills brown, with six or seven 

 tran verse bars, nearly pure-white, on the outer webs, and ashy-fulvous on the inner 

 webs ; tail light brown, with about five bands of white, generally tinged with reddish- 

 yellow ; discal feathers * tipped with white; face 'ashy-white, with lines of brown, 

 and a spot of black in front of the eye ; throat dark-brown ; claws horn-color ; bill 

 yellow ; irides bluish-black. Sexes alike. 



Total length about 20 inches ; extent about 44 ; wing 13 to 14 ; tail 9 inches." B. 

 B. N. A. 



Habitat. Eastern United States, west to Minnesota and Texas, north to Nova 

 Scotia and Quebec. 



The Barred Owl is readily distinguished from other species by its 

 large size, yellow-colored bill and its black eyes. Barred Owls are ex- 

 ceedingly abundant in many of the southern states, where they are 

 known by the names of " Hoot and Swamp Owls." In Pennsylvania this 

 owl is found all months of the year, and in many of the mountainous 

 and heavy-wooded regions it is the most common of all the owls. The 

 Barred Owl lays its eggs in a hollow tree, or in a deserted nest of a hawk 

 or crow ; the white eggs are a little under 2 inches long by about If 

 wide. The Barred and Great Horned Owls are the only species, in this 

 locality, whose depredations in the poultry yard bring them to the no- 

 tice of the farmer. Unfortunately, however, the hatred towards these 

 two birds, and particularly the enmity against the Great Horned Owls, 

 has brought all our owls in bad favor ; the farmer's boy and sportsman, 

 with few exceptions, let no opportunity pass to pillage an owl's nest 

 or slay its owners. In this way, there are annually destroyed large 

 numbers of the Screech, Long-eared and Short-eared species, simply be- 

 cause the' popular idea is that owls, large and small, prey only on poul- 

 try and game. 



Wilson says, although mice and small game are the most usual food 

 of Barred Owls, they sometimes seize on fowls, partridges and young 

 rabbits. 



" The Barred Owl subsists principally upon small birds, field mice 

 and reptiles. He is frequently seen, in early twilight, flying over the 

 low meadow lands, searching for the mice that dwell there ; he usually 

 takes a direct course, and sometimes flies so low that the tips of his 

 wings seem to touch the grass. When he discovers his prey he drops 



* Radiating feathers surrounding the eyes. 



