American Long-eared Owl 197 
The Barn-Owl is the most distinctively nocturnal 
of its tribe, and spends the day in a hollow tree, a dark 
nook or crevice, or often in barns or outhouses. It never 
hoots, but sometimes utters a harsh scream or makes 
a loud snoring noise. The nest is placed in cavities 
of trees, holes in banks and among rocks, or often, when 
these are available, in towers, buildings or barns. The 
eggs are often laid on an accumulation of debris, and 
little or no regular nest is made. They are usually 
four to seven in number, ovate, dead white, and measure 
165 x 1°25. 
Family STRIGIDZA. 
This family, containing all the other Owls, has no 
serration on the claw of the middle toe, which is always 
longer than the inner one ; the sternum is always notched 
once or twice on each side behind, and is never joined 
to the furculum, which is often defective or rudimentary. 
Genus ASIO. 
Bill rather weak; cere somewhat inflated with the nostrils at the 
edge; facial disk circular and well developed; ear-tufts present ; 
wings long; tail about half the length of the wing; legs feathered to 
the claws ; ear-openings very large, asymmetrical and provided with 
a@ movable operculum for their whole length. 
An almost cosmopolitan genus with about twelve species; only 
two in the United States. 
A. Ear-tufts long, over an inch. A. wilsonianus, p. 197. 
B, Ear-tufts small and inconspicuous, under an inch. 
A. flammeus, p. 199. 
American Long-eared Owl. Asio wilsonianus. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 366—Colorado Records—Baird 54, p. 12; 58, 
p. 53; Drew 81, p. 141; 85, p. 17; Allen & Brewster 83, p. 197; 
Dille 86, p. 15; 03, p. 74; Morrison 87, p. 107; 88, p. 115; 89, p. 66; 
Cooke 97, pp. 77, 205; Henderson 03, p. 235; 09, p. 230; Warren 
06, p. 20; 10, p. 31; Gilman 07, p. 154; Rockwell 08, p. 163. 
Description. Adult—Above finely mottled dusky-brown and white 
with a little tawny, especially about the centre of the back ; facial disk 
yellowish-black around the eye, framed by a black line mottled with 
