220 
ORDERS OP BIRDS— BIRDS OP PREY 
N. Y. Zoological Park. 
BARN-OWL. 
THE HORNED-OWL FAMILY. 
Bubonidae. 
The Long-Eared Owl 1 looks like a small 
and imperfect imitation of the great horned owl. 
It can always be distinguished by its small size, 
and the fact that its horns appear to have been 
set too close together on the top of its head, and 
do not fit very well. Its total length is about 
15 inches, and its general color is a fine mottling 
of gray, tawny and black, which produces a 
brownish-gray bird. It is found all over the 
United States. 
The food of this very useful bird consists 
mainly of mice. In April, 1888, at Munson 
Hill, Virginia, Dr. Fisher collected about 50 
pellets from under a tree in which a Long-Eared 
Owl had roosted, and found that they contained 
the following remains: 95 meadow-mice, 19 
pine-mice, 15 house-mice, 5 white-footed mice, 
3 Cooper’s mice, 26 short-tailed shrews and 13 
birds. Of the birds, there were 11 sparrows, 1 
blue-bird and 1 warbler. Of this species Dr. 
1 A' si-o wil-son-i-an'us. 
Fisher says: “It is both cruel and pernicious 
to molest a bird so valuable and innocent as the 
one under consideration.” 
The Short-Eared Owl 2 is of about the same 
size as the preceding species, but its ears are so 
short that they look like two small feathers that 
have been thrust carelessly into the plumage di- 
rectly above the eyes. Above it is a brownish- 
yellow bird, and buffy white underneath. It is 
found from the arctic regions of North America 
to Patagonia, and throughout nearly the whole 
of the Old World except Australasia. Its food 
habits are very similar to those of the long-eared 
owl, and it is equally deserving of a perpetual 
close season. 
The Barred Owl 3 has not quite so good a 
reputation as the three noticed above, but its 
record is by no means bad. Out of 109 stomachs 
examined by the Biological Survey, three con- 
tained domestic fowls, one a ruffed grouse and 
one a pigeon. Six contained screech-owls, one 
a saw-whet owl, three held sparrows, one a wood- 
pecker, and two small birds were not identified. 
Against this debit was a credit of 46 mice, 18 
other small mammals, 4 frogs, 1 lizard, 2 fishes, 
2 spiders, 9 crawfish and 20 empties. The 
eighteen small mammals consisted of 5 red 
Photo, and copyright, 1902, by W. L. Underwood. 
BARRED OWLS. 
squirrels, 1 flying squirrel, 1 chipmunk, 4 rab- 
bits, 2 shrews, 2 moles, 1 weasel and 2 rats. 
From this very exact evidence, the reader 
2 A' si-o ac-cip-i-tri'nus. Length, from 14 to 16 
inches. 
3 Syr'ni-um va'ri-um. 
