RED OWL. 383 
spotted with light brown —had no spot of white on them— and, 
when shut, the tips of the wings did not reach to the tip of the tail by 
at least two inches. The tail of the Night Hawk was handsomely 
forked, the exterior feathers being the longest, shortening gradually 
to the middle ones; the tail of the Whip-poor-will was rounded, the 
exterior feathers being the shortest, lengthening gradually to the mid- 
dle ones. 
“ After a careful examination of these and several other remarkable 
differences, it was impossible to withstand the conviction, that these 
birds belonged to two distinct species of the same genus, differing in 
size, color, and conformation of parts. 
“A statement of the principal of these facts having been laid before 
Mr. Bartram, together with a male and female of each of the above- 
mentioned species, and also a male of the Great Virginian Bat, or 
Chuck-will’s-widow, after a particular examination, that venerable 
naturalist was pleased to declare himself fully satisfied; adding, that 
he had now no doubt of the Night Hawk and the Whip-poor-will be- 
ing two very distinct species of Caprimulgus. 
«Tt is not the intention of the writer of this to enter at present into 
a description of either the plumage, manners, migrations, or economy 
of these birds, the range of country they inhabit, or the superstitious 
notions entertained of them; his only object at present is the correc- 
tion of an error, which, from the respectability of those by whom it 
was unwarily adopted, has been but too extensively disseminated, and 
received by too many as a truth.” 
RED OWL.—STRIX ASIO. — Fig. 174. —Femate. 
Little Ow!, Catesb. i. 7. — Lath.’i. 123.— Linn. Syst. 132.— Aret. Zool. ii. No. 
117. — Turton. Syst. i. p. 166.— Peale’s Museum, No. 428. 
STRIX ASIO. — Linn vs. — Younc.* 
Strix Asio, Bonap. Synop. p. 36. 
Tis is another of our nocturnal wanderers, well known by its 
common name, the Luttle Screech Owl; and noted for its melancholy 
quivering kind of wailing in the evenings, particularly towards the 
latter part of summer and autumn, near the farm-house. On clear 
moonlight nights, they answer each other from various parts of the 
fields or orchard; roost during the day in thick evergreens, such as 
cedar, pine, or juniper trees, and are rarely seen abroad in sunshine. 
In May, they construct their nest in the hollow of a tree, often in the 
orchard in an old apple tree; the nest is composed of some hay and a 
few feathers; the eggs are four, pure white, and nearly round. The 
young are at first covered with a whitish down. 
* See p. 201 for description of the adult of this species, and note. 
