250 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



BARRED OWL. 



A. O. U- No 368. (Syrnium iiebulosum). 



RANGE. 



Eastern United States from Nova Scotia southwards. West to the 

 States bordering the western banks of the Mississippi River. They 

 breed throughout their range. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length about 18 in.; extent 45 in.; tail 9 in. Eyes very dark brown. 

 Wings broad and rounded; tail rounded. Feet feathered to the toes. 

 Upper parts brownish gray, barred with whitish or tawny; under parts 

 whitish, the breast and throat barred with dusky and changing abrupt- 

 ly into brownish stripes on the belly. Facial disk gray with concen- 

 tric dusky rings about the eyes, and bordered with a mixed black and 

 white specked band. As with the other owls, they perch, generally 

 with two toes in front and two behind. 



No. 368a. Florida Barred Owl (S. n. alleni) is a darker race of the 

 Barred Owl and is found in Florida and very abundantly in Texas. 



NEST AND EGGS. 



Barred Owls nest from the latter part of February until early in May. 

 Their nest is occasionally a deserted one of some of the hawks or 

 crows, but more frequently they deposit their eggs in the hollow cavi- 

 ty of a tree. The same tree will be used year after year frequently in 

 the face of continued persecutions. They lay two or three globular 

 white eggs. 



