ZOOLOGY. 
155 
SCOPS ASIO, Bonaparte. 
The Mottled Owl; tile Screecli Owl. 
Strix asio, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, p. 132, (1766.) 
Strix naevia, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, p. 289, (1788.) 
Scops asio, BoNAp. Eur. and N. Am. Birds, p. 6. 
Scops asio, (Linn. ) Baird & Cassin, Gen. Eep. Birds, p. 57. 
Figures. —Catesby’s Nat. Hist. Cardinal, pi. 7 ; Vieill. Ois. d’Am. Sept. I, pi. 21; Temm. pi. col. 80 ; Wilson, Am. 
Orn. pi. 19, fig. 1, pi. 42, fig. 1 ; Aud. B. of Am. pi. 97 : oct. ed. I, pi. 40; Nat. Hist. New York, Birds, pi. 12, figs. 25, 26. 
Sp. Ch. —A small tufted owl. In adult the upper parts ashy brown, with streakings and mottlings of brownish black and 
of cinereous. Below ashy white, striped with black and barred with narrow black lines ; tail with about ten narrow cinereous bands. 
Younger: nearly all upper parts pale brownish red, paler and white below ; tail rufous, with brown bands. 
Young: entirely barred with ashy white and pale brown ; wings and tail pale rufous. 
Length, in both sexes, 9J to 10; wing, 7 ; tail, 3£ inches. 
A specimen of this owl, in the mottled plumage, was obtained by me at Fort Vancouver, W. 
T.—S. 
OTUS WILSONIANUS, Lesson. 
The Long-eared Owl. 
Olus Wilsonianus, Lesson, Traite d’Orn. I, p. 110, (1831.) 
Baird and Cassin, Gen. Eep. Birds, p. 53. 
Otus Americanus, Bonap. Comp. List, p. 7, (1838.) 
Strix Americana, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, p. 288, (1788?) 
Strix perigrinator, Bartram, Travels, p. 289, (1790?) 
Figures. —Wilson, Am. Orn. VI, pi. 51, fig. 1; Aud. B. of Am., pi. 383: oct. ed. I, pi. 37 ; Nat. Hist. New York, Birds, 
pi. 11, fig. 24. 
Sp. Ch.—E ar tufts long, above mottled, a brownish black hue predominating, mixed with ashy; breast pale fulvous, with 
dark stripes and narrow bars; eye nearly encircled with black ; rest of face ashy ; tail brown, with several irregular bands of 
ashy fulvous, and mottled. 
Female: Length, 15 ; wing, 11 to 12£; tail, 6 inches. Male rather smaller. 
No. 9143, (19,) John Day’s river, Oregon Territory, November 12, 1853. Length, 14.50 ; extent, 38. Female. 
No. 8,243, (225,) 100 miles east of Fort Kearney, Nebraska, October 28, 1857. Length, 14.50; extent, 37.50; wing, 12. 
Iris, yellow; hill, bluish ; toes, gray. 
The long-eared owl I only obtained once, on the banks of the Columbia, east of the Dalles, 
November, 1853. In the same desolate and barren region, where the only trees are a few 
small willows along the banks of the river, several species of owls are found, which, apparently, 
have deserted their favorite forests for the sake of the hares and mice abounding in some parts 
of this region. The willows scarcely diminish the brightness of the sunlight, which strikes 
down on them from morning to night.—C. 
I obtained a bird of this species in a dense thicket, on a small branch of Milk river, Nebraska. 
I suppose that, owing to the scarcity of hollow trees in that vicinity, the umbrageous shelter 
of thick brush is used as a substitute. The owl appeared stupid and sleepy, and allowed a very 
near approach.—S. 
BRACHYOTUS CASSINII, Brewer. 
The Short-eared Owl. 
Brachyotus Cassinii, Brewer, Proc. Boston Soc. N. H. Baird and Cassin, Gen. Eep. Birds, p. 54. 
Strix brachyotus, Forster, Phil. Trans. London, LXII, p. 384, (1772.) 
Brachyotuspaluslris americanus, Bonap. Consp. Av. p. 51, (1849.) 
