STKKilD.E — THE OWLS. 9 



iiuitlcmiilo; ill Soutli AuuM'iL'u l>y var. pcrhihi, and in tlie West Indies liy liie 

 vav. furriitii. The Old World lias also niinicoiis iviirt'sontativu lat'es, of 

 which we have, however, seen only two, namely, ww: jura nlin ((ini.j, of .lava, 

 India, and Kastern Alriea, and var. iliHidtnla i^llouldj ul' Aiisiialia, hoih of 

 wliieli we uiihi'sitatiii,uly refer to S. JIhihiiuk} 



On the Xorth American eoiitineiit the only widely distrihiited species 

 whidi do not vary i)ereei)tilily with the region arc Oliin liiuir/ii/d/iis and (>. 

 cii/'/drifi (var. iri/.siiiii((jii'.s). Jluho riiylniinni'i, Sivj>--< I'-^io, and Siffiinnu nc'iu- 

 losinn all hear the iiiiiiress of special laws in the several regions of their 

 lialiitat. Starting with the Eastern Province, and tracing either of these three 

 species soulhwanl, we find it becoming gradually smaller, the cidors deejjer 

 and more rufous, and the toes more .scantily fealhered. ,SVo/as Ksin reaches its 

 minimum of si/e and maximuiu depth of color in l""lorida {yav. Jfurii/itju() 

 and in Mexico (var. fiuinu). 



Of the other two I have not seen Florida s])eciniens, but examples of 

 both from other Sontiiern States and the Lower Mississip^ii Valley region are 

 much more I'll lous, and — tiie S. iKhiilosina especially — smaller, with more 

 naked toes. The latter species is darki'st in Eastern Mexico (var. Kdvtori), 

 and most rufescent, and smallest, in (luatemala (\i\r./n/ir.sci;iis). In the mid- 

 dle region of the I'nited Stales, Scoji'i tisio (var. taairdlli) and Buho vinjliii- 

 annn (\av. (urticn-'i) are more grayisli and more delicately pencilled than from 

 other jiortioiis. In the iiortiiwest coast region they become larger and much 

 more darkly colored, assuming the clove-browii or sooty tints jieculiar to the 

 region. The var. Irnnirnlli represents <S'. asii) in this region, and var. pncifirita 

 the 1>. vivijliiiunii.-i. The; latter species also extends its range around the 

 Arctic Coast to Labrador, and forms a northern littornl race, the very o])]k)- 

 site extreme in color I'rom the nearly albinescont examiiles of var. ((irtiniH 

 found ill the interior of Arctic America. 



A very remarkable characteristic of the Owls is the fact that many of the 

 species exist in a sort of (/innirjiliir condition, or that two jdumages suili- 

 ciently unlike to be of spt^cific importance in otlu^r cases belong to one 

 species. It was long thought that these two phases represented two distinct 

 species; afterwards it was maintained that they (le]K.'nded on age, sex, or sea- 

 son, different authors or observers entertaining various ojiinions on the sub- 

 ject ; but it is now generally believed that every individual retains through 

 life the plumage which it first accpiires, and that young birds of both forms 

 are often found in the .same nest, their parents being either both of (me 

 form, or both of the other, or the two styles paired together.^ The iinrmal 

 ]iluniage, in these instances, appears to be grayish, the pattern distinct, the 

 markings sharply delined, and the general appearance much like that of s])e- 

 cies which do not have the other plumage. The other jdumagc is a repla- 



1 For iliaj^nosi's of iIipsp gcoi^niiiliii-il r.ii'cs «( S/ri.i' tlniiinii-n, sec ]i]>. l;?:!0 nml 13411. 

 - Spc AUpii, Hull. Mils. Com]). Zoiil., C'iiiiibiiil{,'<', Vol. II, No. 3, pp. 3.38, 339, wlicio tlio.so 

 lihimnsi'S iirr ilisi'iisspil n*; length, 

 vol,. III. 2 



