OF THE UNITED STATES 243 



it by several inches in length: in both the bill is of a greenish 

 yellow, being more grayish in the young. Florida Barred Owls 

 I found to be very numerous in the neighborhood of New Orleans, 

 La., where in the depths of the cypress swamps and bayous, I 

 have observed several in sight at one time. Nocturnal in habit 

 by preference, this species nevertheless occasionally hunts by 

 day, its principal food being small mammals, some birds, frogs, 

 fish, and snakes; and finally a varied list of insects and other in- 

 vertebrates. Water is greatly relished by them, and in captivity 

 they will frequently bathe. Their notes are simply extraordin- 

 ary in many particulars, some of them being uttered in the day- 

 time. They build, or rather lay their eggs in holes in trees usu- 

 ally, but sometimes select for the purpose an abandoned nest of 

 crow or hawk. In flight they are absolutely noiseless, passing 

 through the air with scarcely any more disturbance than a fea- 

 ther falling in the same medium. Many years ago, I found the 

 Barred Owl very abundant in the heavy timber-forests a few 

 miles from Kingston, New York, and Wilson in his time found 

 them to be very common in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, 

 having met with forty specimens in one spring. His account of 

 the different character of the feathers of this species is quite in- 

 teresting. 



Another very large owl that occurs in the northern parts of 

 this country in the winter time is the Great Gray Owl ( Scotia pte 

 cinerea), a visitant from the arctic realm. A subspecies of it 

 has accidently occurred in Alaska (S. c. lapponica). As yet we 

 have but limited information in regard to these two forms, and 

 any one supplying accurate accounts about them will be doing 

 science a good service. Recently I have obtained from Mr. Al- 

 bert Lano of Aitkin, Minnesota, the trunk skeleton of S. cinerea, 

 and this is notably smaller than the same part of the skeleton of 

 either the Snowy Owl or the Great Horned Owl, yet the Great 

 Gray Owl exceeds both of these birds in length, the difference 

 being due to the feathers and excessive development of the plum- 

 age in it. 



This fact was made the subject of a letter from Mr. Lano, and 

 oilier naturalists have observed the same, Bendire remarking 

 upon it in his work. No feather-horns ornament the head in 

 Scotiaptar, and this taken in connection with its great size and 

 other characters easily distinguishes it from any of the large 

 owls of our avifauna. 



