100 
MOTTLED OWL. 
shutting, as if suffering from the glare of day ; but no sooner Tvas the 
sun set, than its whole appearance became lively and animated ; its full 
and globular eyes shone like those of a cat ; and it often lowered its 
head, in the manner of a cock when preparing to fight, moving it from 
side to side, and also vertically, as if reconnoitring you with great 
sharpness. In flying through the room, it shifted from place to place 
with the silence of a spirit, (if I may be allowed the expression), the 
plumage of its wings being so extremely fine and soft as to occasion 
little or no friction with the air ; a wise provision of nature, bestowed 
on the whole genus, to enable them, without giving alarm, to seize their 
prey in the night. For an hour or two in the evening, and about break 
of day, it flew about with great activity. When angry, it snapped its 
bill repeatedly with violence, and so loud as to be heard in the adjoining 
room, swelling out its eyes to their full dimensions, and lowering its head 
as before described. It swallowed its food hastily, in large mouthfuls ; 
and never was observed to drink. Of the eggs and nest of this species 
I am unable to speak. 
The Mottled Owl is ten inches long, and twenty-two in extent ; the 
upper part of the head, the back, ears and lesser wing-coverts, are dark 
brown, streaked and variegated with black, pale brown, and ash ; wings 
lighter, the greater coverts and primaries spotted with white ; tail short, 
even, and mottled with black, pale brown, and whitish, on a dark brown 
ground ; its lower side gray ; horns (as they are usually called) very 
prominent, each composed of ten feathers ; increasing in length from 
the front backwards, and lightest on the inside ; face whitish, marked 
with small touches of dusky, and bounded on each side with a circlet of 
black ; breast and belly white, beautifully variegated with ragged streaks 
of black, and small transverse touches of brown ; legs feathered nearly 
to the claws, with a kind of hairy down, of a pale brown color ; vent 
and under tail-coverts white, the latter slightly marked with brown ; 
iris of the eye a brilliant golden yellow ; bill and claws bluish horn 
color. 
This was a female. The male is considerably less in size ; the gene- 
ral colors darker ; and the white on the wing-coverts not so observable. 
Hollow trees, either in the woods or orchard, or close evergreens, in 
retired situations, are the usual roosting places of this and most of our 
other species. These retreats, however, are frequently" discovered by 
the Nuthatch, Titmouse, or Blue Jay, who instan^tly raise the alarm ; a 
promiscuous group of feathered neighbors soon collect round the spot, 
like crowds in the streets of a large city, when a thief or murderer is 
detected ; and by their insults and vociferation oblige the recluse to 
seek for another lodging elsewhere. This may account for the circum- 
stance of sometimes finding them abroad during the day, on fences and 
other exposed situations. 
