ACCIPITRES — STRIGIDjE — ULULA. 
29 
GENUS ULULA. Cuvier. 
Bill short, robust, very deep ; the lower mandible with a notch on each side. Ear-openings 
very large, with an anterior semicircular operculum in its whole length. Tarsi and feet 
with soft downy feathers. Facial disks complete. Wings very broad and rounded. Third 
quill longest; filaments of the first half of the second, and terminal part of the third, free 
and recurved. Tail moderate, arched, slightly rounded. 
THE BARRED OWL. 
UlTJLA NEBULOSA. 
PLATE X. FIG.21. 
(STATE COLLECTION.) 
Strix nebulosa , L. 12 ed. 
Barred Owl. Penn. Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 231, pi. 11, fig. 120. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 4, p. 61, pi. 33, fig. 2. 
«S. nebulosa. Aulub. folio, pi. 46 (male). Orn. Biog. Vol. 1, p. 242; Vol. 5, p.386. Nottall, Manual Om. 
Vol. 1, p. 133. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 81. 
Symium nebulosum. Aud. B. of A. Vol. 1, p. 132, pi. 36 (male). 
Symium nebulosa, Giraud, Birds of Long island, p: 24. 
Characteristics. Light reddish brown above, spotted with white. Head and neck with 
transverse brown bars. Primaries and tail barred with light rufous. 
Length, 18 inches. 
Description. Bill strongly curved from the base, compressed. Operculum membrana¬ 
ceous. In the specimen which I examined, the fifth primary longest. Legs with short 
feathers ; the extremities of the toes covered with scales. Tail convex. 
Color. Above light brown, transversely barred with whitish and yellowish. Wings barred 
alternately with brown and pale rufous. Facial disk obscurely marked with narrow interrupt¬ 
ed concentric circles of light brown. Summit of the head barred with brown on a white 
ground. Upper part of the breast with irregular interrupted bars of brown. Belly yellowish 
white or buff, with numerous longitudinal dilated streaks of brown. Leg-feathers obscurely 
marked with pale brown bars. Irides brown. Bill light greenish yellow. Claws bluish 
black. 
Length, 17'0-22 , 0. 
The Barred Owl is a common species in this State. It feeds on rats, frogs, and the smaller 
birds and quadrupeds, and but rarely disturbs the young broods of the farmer. It is very 
abundant in the Southern States, and has been seen as high as the 53d degree of latitude. 
In Europe it is only seen in the high northern latitudes. 
