BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 641 



KET TO THE SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES OP STRIX. 



a. Posterior, half (or more) of under parts longitudinally striped, without spots or 

 bars; upper parts barred. 

 9. Larger (wing 315-355 mm.); coloration much less fulvous, the lighter markings 

 mostly white or bufty white. (Strix varia.) 

 e. Basal portion of toes densely feathered, the middle portion scantily feathered 

 or bristled. 

 d. Coloration lighter, the stripes on under parts distinctly brown; bars on upper 

 parts less numerous, more buffy or ochraceous; smaller, with relatively 

 smaller bill and feet (wing averaging 332.8 in male, 338.3 in female; cul- 

 men, from cere, averaging 25.1 in male, 25.3 in female). (Transition and 

 Upper Austral zones of eastern North America.) 



Strix varia varia (p. 641). 



dd. Coloration darker, the stripes on under parts black to blackish brown; 



bars on upper parts more numerous, whiter; larger, with relatively 



larger bill and feet (wing averaging 359 in male, 359.7 in female; culmen, 



from cere, averaging 26.3 in male, 26.8 in female). (Motintains of 



Mexico.) Siriz varia sartorii (p. 646). 



cc. Toe's wholly naked, except a strip on outer side of middle toe. 

 d. Larger, with relatively larger bill and feet, as in S. v. sartorii, but lighter 

 colored than S. v. varia. (South-central Texas.) 



Strix varia albogilva (p. 646). 



dd. Smaller, with smaller bill and feet, as in S. d. varia, and identical with the 



latter in coloration. (Humid portions of Lower Austral Zone in eastern 



United States.) Strix varia alleni (p. 644). 



bb. Smaller (wmg 300-325 mm.); coloration much more fulvescent, the lighter 

 markings mostly ochraceous or deep buff. (Toes naked.) (Highlands of 



Guatemala.) Strix fulvescens (p. 647). 



aa. Posterior under parts spotted, like anterior portions; upper parts spotted. (Strix 

 oceidentalis.) 

 b. Darker, 

 c. Darkest, with lighter markings more reduced in size; legs and feet more heavily 

 mottled. (Northwest coast, from northern California to Btritish Columbia.) 



Strix oceidentalis caurina (p. 650). 

 cc. Less dark, with lighter markings larger; legs and feet less heavily mottled. 

 d. Under parts with lighter markings more buffy. (California, except northern 



coast district.) Strix oceidentalis oceidentalis (p. 648). 



dd. Under parts with lighter markings more whitish. (Mexico.) 



Strix oceidentalis lucida (p. 652). 

 66. Paler. (Arizona; Colorado?) Strix oceidentalis huachucae (p. 651)." 



STRIX VARIA VARIA (Barton). 



BABKED OWL. 



Advlts {sexes alike). — Head, neck, chest, back, scapulars, and 

 rump broadly and regularly barred with pale buff or buffy white and 

 deep brown (bister or warm sepia), the latter color always terminal, 

 the brown bars rather broader than the paler ones on upper parts, 

 but on the neck and chest rather narrower; breast also barred with 



» Owing to insufficiency of the material examined, I am not able to give a very 

 satisfactory key to the forms of S. oceidentalis. 

 3622°— Bull. 50, pt 6—14 41 



