CHAPTER XVI 



NIGHT AND DAY GAME HUNTERS 



ScEEECH Owl — Baered Owl — Short-eared Owl — 

 Long-eared Owl — ^Barn Owl;^ — Osprey — Sparrow- 

 hawk — ^Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle — ^Red- 

 shouldered Hawk — ^Red-tailed Hawk — Cooper's 

 Hawk and the Sharp-shinned BLa.wk — ^Marsh 

 Hawk — Turkey Vulture 



The Screech Owl 



Length — 8.5 to 9.5 inches. About as long as a robin. 



Male and Female — Brownish red phase: Upper parts rusty 

 red, finely streaked with blackish brown and mottled 

 with light brown; under parts whitish or buff, the 

 feathers centrally streaked with black and with irregular 

 rusty bars. Eyes yellow; legs and feet covered with 

 short feathers; prominent ear tufts. Gray 'phase: 

 Upper parts ashen gray streaked with black and finely 

 mottled with yellow; imder parts white, finely streaked 

 and barred irregularly with black, more or less bordered 

 with rusty. Immature birds have entire plumage reg- 

 ularly barred with rusty, gray, and white. 



Range — ^Eastern North America. 



Season — ^Permanent resident. 

 {See plates, pages 178-179.) 



174. 



