6o 
BIRDS OF PREY. 
hair, in pellets. He also devoured large flies, which at this 
time came into the room in great numbers ; and even the dry 
parts of these were also ejected from the stomach without di- 
gestion. A pet of this species, which Dr. Michener had, 
drank frequently, and was accustomed to wash every day in 
a basin of cold water during the heat of summer. 
Nuttall, following Wilson and Audubon, treated the gray and 
red phases of this bird as two distinct species, and wrote separate 
biographies, which I insert in full. Some ornithologists have sup- 
posed that the gray specimens were the young birds; but it has 
been proved beyond question that the two phases are simply indi- 
vidual variations of the same species. Gray and red birds have 
been found in one nest, with both parents gray, or both red, or with 
one of each color. 
Note. — A smaller and darker race is found in South Carolina, 
Georgia, and Florida. It is named Florida Screech Owl 
(Af. asio Jloridanus). In this race the reddish feathers wear a 
richer rufous tint, and the gray are more deeply tinged with 
brown. 
