188 



KET And description 



brown. This is a iiight-ilying bird, passing its time during the 

 day among dense trees. It gets its name from a resemblance 

 of its notes to the noise made in filing a saw. Mice form its 

 main food. (Acadian Owl.) 



Length, 8 ; wing, ti\ (5|-5i) ; tail, 2~, ; tarsus, \; culmen, I. Nortli 

 America ; breeding from tlie Middle States nortliward (south to Mexico, 

 in the mountains), and wandering irregularly southward in winter. 



7. Screech Owl (373. Megascops d.sio). — A very common, 

 small, night-flying owl, with conspicuous ear tufts, and weird, 



whistling notes. It is found in varie- 

 ties of two colors, distinctly reddish and 

 distinctly grayish. The back is finely 

 streaked and dappled ; the imder parts 

 are white-streaked, blotched and barred 

 with dark colors, giving them a varie- 

 gated appearance. The young is more 

 regularly barred than the adult. This 

 owl prefers orchards near human habi- 

 tations, to the wild woods, for its home. 

 Its food consists of insects, mice, and 

 birds. 



Length, T'-IO ; wing, 6i (0-7|) ; tail, ^ ; 

 culmen, J-. North America from the Plains 

 eastward, south to Georgia, and north to New 

 Brunswick and Minnesota ; practically resi- 

 dent throughout. The Florida Screech Owl 

 (373". J/, a.floridanns), of South Carolina to 

 Louisiana, mainly near the coast, is a smaller bird, with the colors deeper, 

 and the markings more distinct. Wing, 6 ; tail, 3. The Texas Screech 

 Owl (SIS'". M. a. trirhopsis), of southern Texas to Central America, has the 

 small size of the Florida bird, and the two phases of color of the common 

 screech owl, but is more regularly streaked and barred ; thus it lacks the 

 blotchy appearance which is so characteristic of the northern form. 



8. Great Horned Owl (.i75. Subo virginidnus). — A very large, 

 yellow-eyed, long-eared, finely mottled, brownish owl, usually 

 marked with a white collar. The under parts are reddish-buff 

 barred with black. This bird inhabits dense forests of the 

 sparsely settled sections, and is probably the only owl that 



'eecn Owl 



