306 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
were brought to the University Museum to be mounted. They were taken 
in a marsh seven miles southwest of Ann Arbor and must have been bred 
where they were found” (N. A. Wood). There is also in our Agricultural 
College collection the skin of an adult female taken on Chandler’s Marsh, 
Ingham county, June 21, 1897, by Thomas L. Hankinson. 
Of 87 stomachs reported upon by Dr. A. K. Fisher, 11 contained small 
birds; 77, mice; 7, other mammals and 7, insects. While this would indicate 
that the food consisted mainly of mice, which we believe to be the case, it 
seems likely that when feeding young in the nest this owlmay prey more 
extensively upon birds. In “Birds of Wisconsin,” p. 69, we find an account 
of a nest of three young found at Delevan, Wis., May 29, 1898, which were 
“literally resting on a mass of wing and tail-feathers of the victims of their 
appetites. From this mass we picked out over 600 feathers, and among 
them positively identified more than 380 species of birds. No trace of a 
mammal was found either about the nest or in the pellets around it.” 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Ear-tufts or plumicorns rudimentary, scarcely visible; first primary emarginate on inner 
web near tip. Adult: Facial disk coal black about the eyes, grayish or buffy about the 
edge, whitish above the inner corners of the eyes; chin white; upper parts buffy white to 
deep buff or even rufous, thickly and broadly streaked with brownish black; under parts 
similar, but the dark stripes broad and close only on the throat and chest, becoming 
narrower and scantier on breast and belly, and sometimes entirely wanting on the under 
tail-coverts; tarsi and toes closely feathered, pale buff, unmarked; first mes primaries 
with two dark bars on inner webs near the tips, and usually with a third spot or imperfect 
bar about the middle; rest of inner web buffy or whitish; tail whitish, buffy or rusty, 
with four or five narrow dusky bars; bill blackish; iris dark yellow. 
The female is larger than the male, but not otherwise different; the young of the year 
are darker than old birds, especially above, while the under parts are less thickly streaked, 
sometimes not at all. Length 13.80 to 16.75 inches; wing 11.80 to 13; tail 5.80 to 6.10. 
152. Barred Owl. Strix varia varia Barton. (368) 
Synonyms: Hoot Owl, Rain Owl, Wood Owl.—Strix varius, Bart., 1799.—Strix 
nebulosa, Forst., and the older authors generally.—Syrnium nebulosum, Gray, 1844, 
and most recent writers. 
Plate XXV. 
Known from the Great Horned Owl by its somewhat smaller size and 
absence of ear-tufts; also by the greenish-yellow beak and dark brown eyes. 
The only other owl with which it could be confounded it the Great Gray 
Owl, which is decidedly larger (although of about the same weight) and has 
a yellow eye instead of a brown one. 
Distribution.—Eastern United States, west to Minnesota, Nebraska, 
Kansas and Texas, north to Nova Scotia and Quebec. Breeds throughout 
its range. 
This is undoubtedly the commonest large owl in Michigan and the one 
most often killed by “sportsmen.” It is a bird of the forest and is seldom 
seen outside of the woods, although often obliged to be contented with the 
fringe of large trees along a stream. Its range does not extend much farther 
north than Upper Michigan, and probably it is more abundant in the 
southern half of the state; but it has a decided preference for heavily 
wooded regions and has decreased rapidly wherever the country has been 
cleared up. 
