102 BIRDS OF OHIO. 



considerably larger than the Screech Owl, which may be 

 reddish, but has ear tufts. 



"All testimony goes to show that the Barn Owl is one of 

 the most beneficial of rapacious birds Its food un- 

 doubtedly consists principally of several species of rodents 

 which, from their great number and destr.uctive habits, are 



a curse to the country they inhabit In the east its 



food consists largely of mice and rats which it destroys 

 with as much energy as it does the gophers of the west. 

 All the common species, including the meadow, house, and 

 white-footed mice, as well as the common rat are eaten with 

 equal relish" (Fisher). Mr. Charles Dury gives an ac- 

 count of a colony of these owls which lived in the town hall 

 in Glendale, Ohio, in which he says, "But the strangest 

 part of the curious habitation was the flock of domestic 

 pigeons that were living seemingly on intimate terms with 

 the owls, and, judging from the old pigeon nests, I presume 

 the pigeons had actually nested and reared their young 

 there. The floor where they lived was literally covered 

 with the pellets which the birds had disgorged, after the 

 manner of the owl tribe." It seems to be beyond question 

 that one Barn Owl is worth a whple family of cats as a 

 mouser, and that it is far less likely to steal a chicken than 

 the average cat is. 



Family Bubonid^. Other Owls. 



138. (366.) Asio wilsonianus (Less.). 153. 

 American Long-eared Owl. 



Synonyms: Otus vulgaris var. wilsonianus, Asio americanus, 

 Otus vulgaris, O. wilsonianus. 

 Long-eared Owl, Cat Owl. 

 Audubon, Orn. Biog., IV, 1838, 572. 



One must look in the woods for this owl, where it nests 

 and where it feeds by night and rests by day. It is not 

 common anywhere in the state, but is pretty generally dis- 

 tributed. In Lorain county it has been found both singly 

 and in companies of six individuals in winter, and its cry is 

 sometimes heard during the- summer while it is nesting. It 



