( 386 ) 



BARRED OWL. 



Strix nebulosa, Linn. 



PLATE XLVI. Vol. I. p. 242. 



This species, which is undoubtedly the most common in our south- 

 ern and western States, was not met with by Dr Richardson be- 

 yond the southern districts of the Fur Countries ; nor has it been 

 observed by Dr Townsend on the Columbia River. I have found it 

 very abimdant in the Floridas, where it is a constant resident, and it 

 ' is an inhabitant of the maritime districts west of the mouths of the 

 Mississippi, including the Texas, where I shot several individuals. It 

 is not rare to the eastward, as far as Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, 

 and a few were seen by myself and my party in Labrador. I feel, 

 therefore, very doubtful as to the identity of our bird and that found 

 in the northern parts of Em-ope. Ours removes southward at the ap- 

 proach of winter in considerable numbers. I have seen some of our 

 Barred Owls in London, which, although imported from New York, 

 were sold as European specimens. The same dishonest practice is 

 exercised by some of our American bird-stuffers, who import skins of 

 Europeans birds, sometimes live birds, and reship them on certain oc- 

 casions, with the view of proving to European naturalists that these 

 species exist with us, although in reality there are none of them in 

 America. Thus, the European Oyster-catcher has been palmed upon 

 European ornithologists as being found in the very neighbovu"hood of 

 New York. I might mention a dozen species in this predicament. I 

 would, therefore, recommend to those whom it may concern, to be as- 

 sured of the respectability of the parties by whom skins of birds are 

 forwarded, either on sale or for exchange. 



The eggs of the American Barred Owl measure two inches in 

 length, one inch and six and a half twelfths in breadth, so that they 

 are of a roundish form ; their colour is pure white. 



An adult male in spirits. The palate is slightly concave, but at 

 the sides inclining upwards. The posterior aperture of the nares is 4 

 twelfths long, with an anterior slit of 6 twelfths. On the anterior part 



