312 ZOOLOGY. 
in the pine or cedar lands, and may immediately be recognised by its 
entirely black eyes and head without horns or ear tufts. It usually preys 
upon small mammalia and birds, but it is said to resort occasionally to 
fishes and reptiles. It breeds in the forests of all the Northern States, 
making a nest in the forks of a large tree, and like some other owls lays 
eggs which are perfectly spherical. 
Another species, the great grey owl (S. cinereum), is a rare visitor in the 
United States, though common in the north. It is one of the largest of 
owls, with plumage of an almost uniform deep grey. The screech owl of 
Europe (S. aluco) belongs here. It is a common species, and appears to be 
similar in its habits and history to our barred owl. Many other species 
are found in all parts of the world. ro teed 
Sub-fam. 2. Bubonine, or Horned Owls. Head large, broad, and furnished 
with two conspicuous tufts of feathers capable of being erected (usually 
called ears). Facial disk not perfect; ears moderate; bill short, strong, 
and curved; legs and feet robust, with the claws very strong and sharp. 
Size various, frequently large. Tarsi densely feathered. 
The Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), which is the largest species 
common in the United States, is a good illustration of this sub-family. 
Though still quite common in Western America, it has become almost 
extinct in the more densely populated districts of the States upon the. 
Atlantic seaboard. It is, however, sufficiently well known for its depreda- 
tions upon the poultry of the housewife, and for its peculiar and sonorous 
notes in almost all parts of North America. Wilson most admirably 
describes this bird in the first volume of his incomparable Ornithology. 
“This noted and formidable owl,’ he says, ‘is found in almost every 
quarter of the United States. His favorite residence, however, is in the 
dark solitudes of deep swamps, covered with a growth of gigantic timber, 
and here, as soon as evening draws on and mankind retire to rest, he sends 
forth such sounds as seem scarcely to belong to this world, startling the 
solitary pilgrim as he slumbers by his forest fire, 
‘Making night hideous.’ 
Along the mountainous shores of the Ohio, and amidst the deep forests 
of Indiana, alone, and reposing in the woods, this ghostly watchman has 
frequently warned me of the approach of morning, and amused me with his 
singular exclamations, sometimes sweeping down and around my fire, 
uttering a loud and sudden ‘ Waugh, O! Waugh, O!’ sufficient to have 
alarmed a whole garrison. He has other nocturnal solos no less melodious, 
one of which very strikingly resembles the half-suppressed screams of a 
person suffocating or throttled, and cannot fail of being exceedingly 
entertaining to a lonely benighted traveller, in the midst of an Indian 
wilderness. 
“The great horned owl is not migratory, but remains with us the whole 
year. During the day he slumbers in the thick evergreens of deep swamps, 
or seeks shelter in large hollow trees. He is rarely seen abroad by day, 
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