120 LAP OWL. 



the posterior half of its bill covered with cere, 

 rounded or swelled out on the sides, and very slightly 

 arched on the ridge; the curved point moderately com- 

 pressed, much resembling that of Strix brachyota. Its 

 auditory concha is much larger than that of S. (JBubo) 

 Virginiana, but very considerably less in proportion 

 than that of S. brachyota, though the operculum is 

 larger than in this bird." 



Although described as common in the fur country by 

 Richardson, it is rare in the United States. Audubon 

 only records two instances of its capture, and he saw 

 it once or twice. His figure of the bird is taken from 

 an unusually large female, thirty inches long and forty- 

 eight inches and a half across the wings, in the Gardens 

 of the London Zoological Society. The following is 

 his account of the habits of one of the specimens cap- 

 tured alive, as related in his "American Ornithology," 

 vol. iv., page 364: — 



"No where common in America, but ranges from the 

 north-east coast of the United States to the source of 

 the Columbia River. One of these birds was taken 

 alive, February, 1831, at Mablehead, Massachusetts. I 

 went to Salem to see it, but it had died, and I could 

 not trace the remains. Mr. Ince, in whose keeping it 

 had been for several months, fed it on fish and small 

 birds, of which it was very fond. It uttered at times 

 a tremulous cry, not unlike that of Strix Asio, the 

 Little Screech Owl, and shewed a great antipathy to 

 cats and dogs. 



The comparatively small size of this bird's eyes ren- 

 ders it possible that it hunts by day, and the marked 

 smallness of its feet and claws leads me to think that 

 it does not prey upon large animals." 



This last inference of Audubon is not in accordance 



