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BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA 
Genus SYRNIUM Savigny. 
Syrnium nebulosum (Forst.). 
'Barred Owl ; Rain Owl. 
Description iPlate 87'), 
“Head large, without ear-tufts ; tail rather long ; upper parts light ashy-brown, 
frequently tinged with dull-yellow, with transverse narrow bands of white, most 
numerous on the head and neck behind, broader on the back ; breast with transverse 
bands of brown and white ; abdomen ashy-white, with longitudinal stripes of brown; 
tarsi and toes ashy-white, tinged with fulvous, generally without spots, but fre- 
quently mottled and banded with dark-brown ; quills brown, with six or seven 
tran verse bars, nearly pure-white, on the outer webs, and ashy-fulvous on the inner 
webs ; tail light brown, with about five bands of white, generally tinged with reddish- 
yellow ; discal feathers * tipped with white; face ashy-white, with lines of brown, 
and a spot of black in front of the eye ; throat dark-brown ; claws horn-color ; bill 
yellow ; irides bluish-black. Sexes alike. 
Total length about 20 inches ; extent about 44; wing 13 to 14; tail 9 inches.” B. 
B. N. A. 
Habitat. — Eastern United States, west to Minnesota and Texas, north to Nova 
Scotia and Quebec. 
The Barred Owl is readily disting-uished from other species by its 
large size, yellow-colored bill and its black eyes. Barred Owls are ex- 
ceedingly abundant in many of the southern states, where they are 
known by the names of “ Hoot and Swamp Owls.” In Pennsylvania this 
owl is fomid all months of the year, and in many of the mountainous 
and heavy -wooded regions it is the most common of all the owls. The 
Barred Owl lays its eggs in a hollow tree, or in a deserted nest of a hawk 
or crow ; the white eggs are a little under 2 inches long by about If 
wide. The Barred and Great Horned Owls are the only species, in this 
locality, whose depredations in the poultry yard bring them to the no- 
tice of the farmer. Unfortunately, however, the hatred towards these 
two birds, and particularly the enmity against the Great Horned Owls, 
has brought all our owls in bad favor ; the farmer’s boy and sportsman, 
with few exceptions, let no opportunity pass to pillage an owl’s nest 
or slay its owners. In this way, there are annually destroyed large 
numbers of the Screech, Long-eared and Short-eared species, simply be- 
cause the popular idea is that owls, large and S7nall, prey only on poul- 
try and game. 
Wilson says, although mice and small game are the most usual food 
of Barred Owls, they sometimes seize on fowls, partridges and young 
rabbits. 
“ The Barred Owl subsists principally upon small birds, field mice 
and reptiles. He is frequently seen, in early twilight, flying over the 
low meadow lands, searching for the mice that dwell there ; he usually 
takes a direct course, and sometimes flies so low that the tips of his 
wings seem to touch the grass. When he discovers his prey he drops 
* Radiating feathers siirroiinding the eyes. 
