258 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



varied with dusky and ochraceous, the quills with large (often partially 

 confluent) spots of the latter ; tail ochraceous or buffy, paler on outer 

 feathers, and crossed with about five dusky bands ; face blackish around 

 eyes, the eyebrows whitish. Young : Above dark sepia-brown, the 

 feathers broadly tipped with ochraceous-buff; face uniform brownish 

 black; lower parts wholly plain pale dull buffy, tinged with smoky 

 grayish anteriorly. Length 13.80-16.75, wing 11.80-13.00, tail 5.80- 

 6.10, culmen .60-.65, tarsus about 1.75. Nest on ground, in open situa- 

 tions, usually among bushes or tall grasses. Eggs 3-6, 1.59 X 1-23. Hab. 

 Entire western hemisphere, except Galapagos and part of West Indies ; 

 also, nearly throughout eastern hemisphere, excepting Australia, etc. 



367. A. accipitrinus (Pall.). Short-eared Owl. 



Genus SYRNIUM Savignt. (Page 256, pi. LXXVIL, fig. 2.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — Above deep umber- or sepia-brown, barred or spotted 

 with buffy or whitish ; face dull grayish or dingy grayish white, usually with nar- 

 row darker concentric rings ; quills spotted with pale brown and whitish, and tail 

 crossed by about six to eight narrow bands of the same; lower parts whitish (buffy 

 or ochraceous beneath surface), barred and striped, or spotted, with brown ; iris 

 brownish black ; bill yellowish. 



a 1 . Head, neck, and breast broadly barred with deep brown and whitish, or buffy ; 

 sides, flanks, and other posterior lower parts striped with deep brown. 

 b 1 . Top of toes feathered, except on terminal portion. 



c\ Face without darker concentric rings ; colors deep sepia-brown and 

 grayish white, the latter with little or none of ochraceous on lower 

 parts, where the stripes are very dark, almost blackish, brown ; 

 wing 14.80, tail 9.00, culmen .95. Hab. Eastern Mexico (Mirador, 

 etc.). 



S. nebulosum sartorii Ridgw. Mirador Barred Owl. 1 



c 2 . Face with more or less distinct darker concentric rings ; colors deep 

 umber-brown and buffy whitish (deeper buff, or ochraceous, beneath 

 surface). Young: Head, neck, and entire lower parts broadly 

 barred with rather light umber-brown and pale buffy and whitish, 

 the brown and lighter bars about equal in width ; back, scapulars, 

 and wing-coverts similarly marked, but the bars broader, the brown 

 ones of a deeper tint, and the terminal portion of each feather 

 broadly white, producing a spotted appearance ; quills, secondaries, 

 and tail-feathers (when grown out) as in adult. Length 19.75-24.00, 

 wing about 13.00-14.00, tail about 9.00. Nest in trees (usually in 

 hollows). Eggs 2-3, 1.94 X 1.65. Hab. Eastern North America, 



1 Syrnium nebulosum, var. sartorii, RlDGW., in Hist. N. Am. B. iii. 1874, 29. (This is possibly a distinct 

 species from S. nebulosum.) 



