BIRDS OF PREY 



(366) Asio wilsonianus 



(Less.) (Lat., a kind of horned owl). 



LONG-EARED OWL. Ear 

 lufts long and prominent. Plum- 

 age as shown; under parts heavily 

 streaked and with numerous cross- 

 bars; face feathers usually quite 

 rusty colored; back rather dark, 

 finely vermiculated with gray and 

 buffy; facial disc nearly round. L., 

 15.00; E.X., 39.00; W., 11.50; T., 

 6.00; Tar., 1.40. Nesl — Usually 

 in deserted crow or hawk nests, but 

 also in hollow trees or even on the 

 ground; the three to seven eggs aie 

 pure white, 1.55 x 1.35. 



Range — Temperate North America. 

 Breeds from Newfoundland, Quebec, 

 Keewatin and B. C. south to Mass., 

 Ind. and Cal. Winters throughout 

 the U. S. and south to Guatemala. 



Family ALUCONID^. Barn Owls 

 BARN OWLS are abundant in tropical and subtropical 

 climates. They are numerous in our Southern States and 

 not uncommon as far north as New York. They show little 

 fear of man — indeed, this species frequently nests within 

 large cities in barns or church steeples. They are not only 

 very inoffensive owls but are quite valuable, for they destroy 

 quantities of ground squirrels, mice, moles, grasshoppers, 

 beetles, etc., and rarely take small birds. Their flight is 

 rather slow, but, as usual with owls, very silently performed. 

 Their nesting sites are very variable; ordinarily they use 

 cavities in trees, but circumstances at times cause them to 

 adopt burrows under ground, holes in banks, crevices among 

 ledges, dovecotes, or corners in barns or steeples, and some- 

 times on stumps, logs, or even on the ground. 



Family STRIGID^. Horned Owls, etc. 

 LONG-EARED OWLS are abundant, for owls, through- 

 out temperate America; they are resident in the United 



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