STRIGID^: OTHEB OWLS. 
507 
spicuous whitish scapular bar, as in S. asio. Tail like back, but with numerous narrow and 
raggod cross-bars of pale rusty or whitish. Wing-quills ' bitten in ' on outer webs with white 
or buff, conspicuously soon several primaries, their inner webs with regular but narrow, distant 
and weak bars, strengthening, liowever, toward the bases of the secondaries. Young birds, 
like those of S. asio, tend to a uniform cross-barring of the whole plumage, but especially of 
the under parts, with light and dark ; the top of the head is finely vermiculated in this manner ; 
the chestnut first appears on the ear-coverts and about the eyes ; but in any color- variation this 
interesting little Scops, only about as large as a Glaiicidiiim, is unmistakable. 
163. A'SIO. (Lat. asio, a kind of horned owl.) Eared Owls. Marsh Owls. Skull and ear- 
parts more or less unsymmetrical ; the conch of immense size, about as long as the skull is high, 
furnished with a movable operculum for its full length. Eyes centric in the perfectly developed 
facial disc. Plumicorns more or less developed. Nostrils at edge of the cere, which is some- 
what inflated, and longer than the chord of culmen beyond it ; bill rather weak. Wings about 
twice as long as tail, pointed, 2d primary usually longest, only 1 or 2 primaries emarginate on 
inner webs. Feet closely feathered to the ends of the toes. Of medium size; our species 12- 
16 inches long. Embracing numerous species, and nearly cosmopolitan. Our long-eared owl 
is decidedly different from that of Europe, Asio otus, but the short-eared has not been satisfac- 
torily distinguished from the almost cosmopolitan A. accipitrinus. 
Analysis of Species. 
Plumicorns long, many-feathered {Asio proper) wilsonianus 472 
Plumicorns short, few-feathered (Brachyotus) accipitrinus 473 
472. A. wilsonia'nus. (To A. Wilson. Fig. 56.) American Long-eared Owl. Ear-tufts con- 
spicuous, about as long as middle toe and claw, of 8-12 feathers. First primary only emargi- 
nate on inner web. Upper parts brownish-black, minutely mottled with grayish- white, and 
variegated with the tawny of basal portions of the feathers which comes to the surface here 
and there; the general effect dark, quite different from the tawny streaking of A. otus of 
Europe. Under parts confused blackish-brown, grayish-white and tawny; on the breast 
marbled in large pattern, for the rest with dusky shaft-lines throwing off dusky cross-bars 
(several on each feather) on a whitish ground, and th<3 tawny bases of the feathers showing 
more or less; feet and crissum mostly immaculate, tawny or whitish. Quills blackish-brown, 
regularly barred with mottled gray, and towards their bases with tawny, which latter forms a 
conspicuous area on the outer webs of several primaries. Lining of wings tawny, separated 
by a dusky area from the similar bases of the inner webs of the primaries. Tail like the 
secondaries, dusky with gray marbled bars, and more or less tawny towards the base ; but from 
below presenting quite light, with numerous firm narrow dusky bars. Facial disc mostly 
tawny, framed all around in a blackish border speckled with whitish, and more or less black- 
ened about the eye ; usually a whitish superciliary line ; bristles at base of bill mixed whitish 
and blackish ; plumbeous-blackish, basally tawny, edged on one side with whitish. Bill and 
claws blackish; iris yellow. Length 14.00-16.00: extent about 39.00; wing 11.00-12.00; 
tail 5.50-6.50 ; tarsus 1.25-1.50; chord of whole culmen about 1.00. Less variable than 
many owls, and always easy to recognize. N. Am. at large, common and generally dis- 
tributed, resident ; perfectly nocturnal, and thus screened from casual observation, even where 
it is numerous, but often surprised in the daytime in shady resorts, as thick bushes along 
streams, canons, caves, etc. Nesting various, in a hollow tree or stump, rift of rock, on the 
ground, or in deserted nests of other birds, as hawks, crows, magpies, or even herons ; usually 
constructed with little art, as when in a hollow or on the ground, sometimes better built in 
branches of a thick tree. Food small quadrupeds, birds, and insects. Eggs white, subspherical, 
1.50 to 1.60 X 1.30 to 1.40. 
473. A. accipitri'nus. (Lat. accipitrinus, hawk-like. Fig. 355.) Short-eared Owl. Marsh 
Owl. Ear-tufts inconspicuous, nmch shorter than middle toe and claw, few-feathered. First 
ii 
