110 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



transverse bars, nearly pure-white on the outer webs, and ashy-fulvous on the inner 

 webs ; tail light-brown, with about five bands of white, generally tinged with reddish- 

 yellow ; discal feathers* tipped with white ; face ashy-white, with lines of brown, and 

 a spot of black in front of the eye ; throat dark-brown ; claws horn-color ; bill yellow ; 

 irides bluish-black. Sexes alike. 



Total length about 20 inches ; extent about 44 ; wing, 13 to 14 ; tail, 9 inches. 



ffab. Eastern United States, west to Minnesota and Texas, north to Xova Scotia 

 and Quebec. 



The Barred Owl is readily distinguished from other species by its 

 large size, yellow-colored bill and its black eyes. Barred Owls are 

 exceedingly abundant in many of the Southern States, where they 

 are known by the names of u Hoot and Swamp Owls." In Pennsyl- 

 vania, I have found this species to be a tolerably common resident 

 during the winter, when they are observed frequenting, chiefly, wooded 

 districts. Wilson says: u ln winter, particularly, it is numerous in 

 the lower parts of Pennsylvania, among the woods that border the 

 extensive meadows of the Schuylkill and Delaware. It is very fre- 

 quently observed flying during the day, and certainly sees more dis- 

 tinctly at that time than many of its family. In one spring, at differ- 

 ent times, I met with more than forty of them, generally flying or 

 sitting exposed. I also once met with one of their nests, containing 

 three young, in the crotch of a white oak, among thick foliage. The 

 nest was rudely put together, composed outwardly of sticks, inter- 

 mixed with some dry grass and leaves, and lined with smaller twigs." 

 The Barred and Great-Horned Owls are the only species, in this lo- 

 cality, whose depredations in the poultry yard bring them to the no- 

 tice of the farmer. Unfortunately, however, the hatred towards these 

 two birds, and particularly the enmity against the Great- Horned Owls, 

 has brought all our owls in bad favor ; the farmer's boy and sports- 

 man, with few exceptions, leave no opportunity pass to pillage an owl's 

 nest or slay its owners. In this way, there are annually destroyed 

 large numbers of the Screech, Long and Short-eared species, simply 

 because the popular idea is that owls, large and small^ prey only on 

 poultry and game. 



FOOD. 



Wilson says, although mice and small game are the most usual food 

 of Barred Owls, they sometimes seize on fowls, partridges and young 

 rabbits. " A specimen that I kept alive for a few weeks, often, in the 

 daytime, flew about the room in which his cage was placed : he alighted 

 with ease on the backs of chairs, or on other pieces of furniture ; sel- 

 dom miscalculating the distance or missing a footing, as many of the 

 other owls would in the same circumstances. This bird soon became 

 tame, and would accept food at almost any time in the day or night ; on 

 receiving a piece of meat, he sometimes attempted to clutch it with his 

 foot, and my fingers often had narrow escapes from his sharp, crooked 



* Radiating- feathers surrounding- the eyes. 



