HOME BIRDS 91 



downy feathers lightly barred with blackish and 

 quite unlike the streaked costume of their parents. 

 \ Some of the latter are gray while others are red- 

 dish brown, but this variation in color (see Figs, 13 

 and 14) has no relation to either age, sex, or season, 

 and its cause has never been learned. 



Whether gray or reddish we may always know 

 the Screech Owl by its small size in connection with 

 the conspicuous feather-tufts which are commonly 

 called "ears." 



