20 



NORTH AMERICATSr BIRDS. 



the uniformity that it does in the Americun bird ; in tlie European bird, each 

 feather above has a conspicuous medial h)ngitudinal stripe uf dark brown- 

 ish : these markings are fouml everywliere exce[)t on the rump and upjier 

 tail-coverts, where tiie ochraoeous is deepest, and transversely cIoikUuI with 

 dusky mottling ; in the American bird, no longitudinal stripes are visible on 

 the upper surface. The ochraceous of the lower surface is, in the vuhjuria, 

 varietl only (to any considerable degres) by the sharply defined medial 

 longitudinal stripes to the feathers, the transverse bars l)eing few and in- 

 conspicuous ; in wilsonianm, white overlies the ochraceous below, and the 

 longitudinal are less conspicuous than the transverse markings ; tiie f(jrmer 

 on the breast are broader than in vulgaris, in which, also, the ochraceous 

 at the bases of the primaries occupies a greater extent. Conipariug these 

 very appreciable differences witii the close resemblance of other representa- 

 tive styles of the two continents (dif- 

 ferences founded on shade or depth 

 of tints alone), we were almost inclined 

 to recogni/e in the American Long- 

 eared Owl a specilic value to these 

 discrepancies. 



The Otiis bh/yius, "NVagl., of South 

 America and ^lexico, is entirely dis- 

 tinct, as will be seen from the foregoing 

 synoptical talile. 



Habits. This species ajipears to be 

 one of the most numerous of the Owls 

 of North America, and to be pretty 

 generally distributed. Its strictly 

 ^ nocturnal habits have caused it to be 

 ;\^ temporarily overlooked in localities 

 whera it is now known to be pres- 

 ent and not rare. Dr. William CJambel 

 and Dr. Heermann both omit it from 

 their lists of the birds of California, though Dr. J. G. Cooper has since found 

 it quite common. It was once supposed not to breed farther south than 

 Xew Jersey, but it is now known to be resident in South Carolina and in 

 Arizona, and is ])robal)ly distributed through all the intervening country. 

 Donald Guiui writes that to his knowledge this solitary bird hunts in the 

 night, both sunnner and winter, in the Ked IJiver region. It there takes 

 possession of the deserted nests of crows, and lays four white eggs. He 

 found it as far as the shores of Hudson's Bay. liichardson states it to be 

 plentiful in the woods skirting the plains of the Saskatchewan, frequenting 

 the coast of the bay in the sunnner, and retiring into the interior in the 

 winter. He met with it as high as the IGth parallel of latitude, and believed 

 it to occur as far as the forests extend. 



Otus nt!saris. 



