SHUFELDIT—PLUMAGES OF YOUNG BARRED OwL 115 
PLUMAGES OF THE YOUNG OF THE BARRED OWL. 
IBN? IDR, IR, Wi, SIHNOAPIBILIDNN, I AN, ©, Wing IAC. 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
(Photos from Life by the Author.) 
Ornithologists in this country have, as a rule, paid but little 
attention in their writings to the characters and coloration of 
the plumage of the nestlings of birds, or during the various 
stages of their sub-adult life. This fact I have pointed out 
in various articles published during the past twenty-five years 
or more,. and especially in one entitled “ The Study of Nest- 
ling Birds,” which appeared in The Atlantic Slope Naturalist 
in 1903 (Vol. 1, No. 4, Sept. and Oct., p. 37-44), and an- 
other which gopcaied in Natur wnd Plas during the same 
year, entitled, “ Das Studium der Nestlinge” (Jahr. xii. Heft, 
4, p. 49-53). 
In the present article this important subject will be further 
illustrated by selecting the first plumages of the Barred Owl 
(Strix varia varia) as an example of the extent of the at- 
tention ornithologists have bestowed upon such matters. 
For instance, if we choose Wilson as an authority we find 
he states in his own account of that bird that he “At 
another time, in passing through the woods, perceived some- 
thing white, on the high shaded branch of a tree, close to 
the trunk, that, as I thought, looked like a cat asleep. Un- 
able to satisfy myself, I was induced to fire, when to my 
surprise and regret, four young Owls, [Strir nebulosa| of 
this same species, nearly full grown, came down headlong, 
and, fluttering for a few moments, died at my feet.” Here 
was an excellent opportunity to describe in a few lines the 
plumage of the young of this Owl, but he never availed him- 
self of it. That these four young owls looked like a “ white 
cat’ im the tree goes for little, especially in view of the fact 
that there were probably plenty of black cats in Wilson’s time. 
Audubon, who enjoyed for many years abundant opportun- 
ity to study the Barred Owl, makes no reference whatever to 
