PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 433 



Family STBIGIDiE : The Owls * 



*130. Strix flammea, (3. pratincola, Bonap. — American Barn Owl. 



The Barn Owl is a common resident of the valleys, especially in the 

 willow thickets near Stockton. I have not seen it in the mountains. 



76612 

 76613 



— ad. 



— ad. 



'Stockton. 

 do ... 



Wins only. 

 Do. " 



131. Asio accipitrinus, (Pall.). — Short-eared Owl. 



This Owl is common at Stockton and Marysville in winter. It left the 

 former place about the first of April of the present year, and reappeared 

 on or before September 30 following. 



74298 

 74299 



— ad. 

 d ad. 



Summit Meadow ; Sept, 16, 1877 



Stockton Mar. 30,1878 



132. Asio wilsonianus, (Less.). — Long-eared Owl. 



I have seen this Owl at Marysville in former years, but do not think I 

 have seen it anywhere within the last two years, t 



# 133. Bubo virginianus, 6. subarcticus, Hoy. — Western Great Homed Owl. 



This Owl is very common at Big Trees in summer and is occasionally 

 seen in the valleys in winter. I do not remember seeing it in the val- 

 ley during summer, nor did I see or hear it at Soda Springs or Summit 

 Meadows in the fall of 1877, though I was informed that it is sometimes 

 found there. There is one mounted at the Big Trees, which I shot there 

 several years ago. It is often seen at Marysville, especially in winter. 



'134. Scops asio, (L.). — Little Mottled Owl: Screech Owl. 



This Owl is quite abundant at Stockton. I have seen it among the 

 foot-hills, but not in the pine forests. [These specimens, like all others 

 from California and the Western Province in general, so far as known, 

 are in the gray plumage. — E. E.] 



I i 



76614 ? ad. ! Stockton i Xov. 12, 1878 



76615 I J ad.! do ! Xov. 13, 1878 



76616 I — ad. j do +Oct, — , 1878 



* I have never shot a bird of the genus Syrnium in California, though on Octobei 

 25, 1878, I saw in an oak grove two large ash-colored Owls, which may have belonged 

 to a species of this genus. They were nearly as large as the Great Horned Owl, and 

 appeared to see well in the bright sunlight. No ear-tufts were noticed. At Big Trees 

 I tried several nights to shoot a large Owl, which may have been a Syrnium, but did not 

 succeed. One evening it new, at a sharp angle, to the top of a dead pine-tree, out of 

 the reach of shot, where it sat silently for about half an hour. [Note. — In the ab- 

 sence of any other known species to which the above description will apply, ami 

 allowing for the circumstances under which the birds were seen, it is quite possible 

 that they were the grayish variety of Bubo virginianus. — R. K.] 



t While attached to the U. S. Geological Exploration of the 40th Parallel, I found 

 this Owl very abundant in the willow thickets at Sacramento City, in June, 1^17. — 

 R. R. 



t Found dead. 



Proc. Nat. Mus. 78 28 March 29, 1 8 7$ . 



