GREAT HORNED OWL. 317 



You have before you, kind reader, a male and a female of this 

 species, which I hope will give you a more perfect idea of the size and 

 form of the Great Horned Owl than any description could do. 



Strix virginiana, Gmel. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 287 — Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 32 — 



Ch. Bmiaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 37. 

 Virginian Eared Owl, Lath. Synops. vol. i. p. 119. 

 Great Horned Owl, Strix virginiana, Wilson, Americ. Ornith. vol. vi. p. 52. 



PI. 50. fig. 1. 



Adult Male. Plate LXI. Fig. 1. 



Bill short, compressed, curved, acute, with a cere at the base ; upper 

 mandible with its dorsal outline curved from the base, the edges acute, 

 the point trigonal, very acute, deflected ; lower mandible with the edges 

 acute and inflected, obtuse at the tip. Nostrils oval, in the fore part of 

 the cere. Head disproportionately large, as are the eyes and external 

 ears. Body short. Legs of ordinary length ; tarsus and toes feathered ; 

 toes papillar and tuberculate beneath ; claws curved, rounded, long, ex- 

 tremely sharp. 



Plumao-e very soft and downy, somewhat distinct above, tufty and 

 loose beneath. Long bristly feathers at the base of the bill, stretching 

 forwards. Eyes surrounded by circles of compact feathers ; auricular 

 coverts forming a ruff". Two erectile tufts of feathers on the head, one 

 on each side. Wings ample, the fourth quill longest, the first short. 

 Tail of ordinary length, rounded, of twelve broad feathers. 



Bill black. Iris yellow. Claws black. Upper part of the head brownish- 

 black mottled with light brown, the tufts or horns of the same colour, 

 margined with brown. Face brownish-red, with a circle of blackish- 

 brown. The upper parts are undulatingly banded and minutely mottled 

 with brownish-black and brownish-red, the ground colour on the lower 

 part of the back tinged with grey. Wings and tail light brownish- 

 yellow, barred and mottled with blackish-brown and light brownish-red. 

 Chin white, upper part of the throat light reddish, spotted with black, 

 a band of white across the middle of the fore neck ; lower fore neck and 

 breast light yellowish-red, barred with deep brown, as are the under parts 

 generally, some of the feathers being nearly white, but barred ; several 

 longitudinal brownish-black patches on the lower fore neck ; tarsal 

 feathers light yellowish-red, obscurely barred. 



