The American Barn Owl 



No. 210 



American Barn Owl 



A. O. U. No. 365. Tyto perlata pratincola (Bonaparte). 



Synonyms. — Monkey-faced Owl. Tawny Owl. White Owl. 



Description. — Adult in medium plumage: General color-tone ochraceous tawny 

 (above) and ochraceous buff (below) ; upperparts ochraceous tawny basally and in 

 broad irregularly irruptive edgings, overlaid with finely mottled ashy gray and dusky; 

 the tail crossed by four or five bars of dusky, the wing quills similarly marked, or else 

 with alternating half-bars, the inner webs changing to white; underparts ochraceous 

 buff or pale tawny, irregularly mingled with white, and marked sparingly and diffusely 

 with rounded or wedge-shaped spots of blackish ; facial disc of feathers having a peculiar- 

 ly loose, open, but stiff texture, white, but variously stained with reddish brown, 

 purplish brown, or claret, the characteristic color concentrated in solid spot in front 

 of eye; the "rim" of close-set, shortened feathers colored like back and eye-spot (hence 

 epitomizing the individual tone of the specimen in hand). Bill light-colored or horny- 

 stained, claws dark horn. Dark extreme: Underparts dark ochraceous tawny; color of 

 facial disc correspondingly intensified; dusky of upperparts stronger, or not. Light 

 extreme: Upperparts chiefly ochraceous buff, the dusky mottling much reduced in area 

 and intensity; underparts pure white or barely touched with buffy, the dusky spots 

 smaller, reduced in number, or wanting; facial disc without stain; eye-spot lighter 

 brown. Remark: These variations, sometimes referred to as "phases," are held by 

 most authorities to be independent of age or sex; but Ridgway says in a footnote: 

 "Apparently, however, females average darker than males." This suggestion receives 

 striking confirmation from a series of 25 specimens in the Berkeley museum, where the 

 darkest specimens, four in number, are all females; and the white birds, six in number, 

 are without exception males. Moreover, the intergradation is so perfect as to suggest 

 that females are progressively darker and males progressively lighter with age. Downy 

 young are pure white, and have strikingly elongated faces, suggesting the primitive 

 character of this group of owls. Length of adult males: 355.6-406.4 (14.00-16.00); 

 wing 328.6 (12.94); tail 138. 1 (5.44); culmen from cere 22.1 (.87); tarsus 73.3 (2.88). 

 Females average a little larger. 



Recognition Marks. — Crow size; tawny or white coloration; rostrum (the beak 

 with its bony support) elongated; facial disc, therefore, triangular, or heart-shaped. 



Nesting. — Nest: A cranny in cliff or building, or burrow in bank, or natural 

 cavity in tree; unlined, save occasionally by hair and bones cast up by bird. Eggs: 

 4 to 9, rarely 10 or 11 (24 of record); white, lusterless, ovate, short-ovate, or rarely 

 elongate, very variable as to length. Av. of 34 California-taken specimens in the 

 M. C. O. colls.: 42.4 x 32 (1.67 x 1.26); index 75. Season: March-June; January to 

 September of record; one or two broods. 



Range of Tyto perlata. — North and Middle America. 



Range of T. p. pratincola. — North America, breeding from about Latitude 40 or 

 42, south to southern Mexico, and casually north to the northern tier of states. 



Distribution in California. — Resident in Lower and Upper Sonoran life zones 

 practically throughout the State. Northernmost record on the coast, Trinidad, 

 Humboldt County, June 17, 1916. Also found sparingly upon the Channel Islands. 



IO/O 



