178 
HORNED OWLS, ETC. 
T. Head and neck spotted. 
2. Wing broadly tipped with whitish .... occidentale, p. 178. 
2'. Wing with white tips almost obsolete ... caurinum, p. 179. 
368. Syrnium nebulosum ( Forst .). Barred Owl. 
Adults . — Head, neck , and breast widely barred with dark brown and 
white or bnffv, belly streaked with dark brown on 
whitish or buffy ground; upper parts mixed dark 
brown, irregularly barred and spotted with buffy, 
whitish, and yellowish brown; wings and tail 
banded. Young: entire plumage barred except 
tail and wing quills, which are as in adult; back 
and wing coverts broadly barred, the end of each 
feather white, giving a spotted effect. Length: 
19.75-24.00, wing about 13-14, tail about 9. 
Distribution. — Breeds in Transition and Upper 
Sonoran zones from Nova Scotia south to Georgia 
and northern Texas, and west to Colorado. 
Nest. — In hollows of trees, or that of hawk or 
crow. Eggs: 2 to 4, white. 
Food. — Mainly mice and other small mam¬ 
mals ; also crawfish and insects. 
‘ ‘ In the central and southern parts of its 
range it is quite common, frequenting mostly 
the heavy timbered and, preferably, swampy 
tracts near watercourses, and spending the days generally in natural 
hollows of trees or in dense shrubbery. Like most of the birds of 
this family, it is nocturnal in its habits, but nevertheless sees well 
enough, and even occasionally hunts in the daytime, especially 
during cloudy weather. . . . 
‘ ‘ The flight of the barred owl ... is easy, and though quite 
swift at times, it is perfectly noiseless. A rapidly passing shadow 
distinctly cast on the snow-covered ground is often the sole cause 
of its presence being betrayed as it glides silently by the hunter’s 
camp-fire in the still hours of a moonlight night. Far oftener, 
however, it announces itself by the unearthly weird call-notes 
peculiar to this species, which surpass in startling effect those of 
all other owls with which I am familiar.” (Bendire.) 
368b- S. n. helveolum Bangs. Texas Barred Owl. 
Pallid, back, wings, and tail pale yellowish brown or cinnamon, light 
bars and spots on wings large and white; light bars on tail wider and 
paler than in S. nebulosum ; under parts paler, dark striping and barring 
browner, grouud color whiter ; feathers of tarsus buffy, without dusky 
markings. Type: female: wing 13, tail 8.32. Topotype: male adult: 
wing 13.64, tail 8.40. 
Distribution. —Southern Texas (and northern Tamaulipas, Mexico ?). 
369. Syrnium occidentale Xantus. Spotted Owl. 
Upper parts brown, head and neck coarsely spotted (instead of barred) 
with round white spots ; wing quills spotted with pale brown and whitish, • 
