GREAT HORNED OWL. AQT 
white, and measure 1.80 by 1.25. They are deposited in nooks of build- 
ings or crevices of rocks, sometimes in burrows in bluffs. No attempt is 
made toward the construction of a nest. 
GENUS BUBO. Cuvier. 
Size large. Har tufts large and prominent. Eyes large. Facial discs eomplete. Ears 
not operculate. Tarsi and toes densely feathered, claws very strong. 
BUBO VIRGINIANUS (Gm.) Bp. 
Great Horned Owl. 
Strix virginianus, WILSON, Am. Orn. vi, 1812, 52.—KIRTLAND, Ohio Geolog. Surv., 1838, 161 
179 —ReaD, Fam. Visitor, ili, 1853, 303; Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., vi, 1853, 395. 
Bubo virginianus, KiRKPATRICK, Ohio Farmer, viii, 1859, 35; Ohio Agric, Rep. for 1858, 
1859, 375.—WH#EATON, Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1860, 1861, 361; Reprint, 3; Food of 
Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 1875, 870, Reprint, 10—LANGDON, Cat. Birds 
of Cin., 1877, 12; Revised List, Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 179; Reprint, 13. 
Strix virginianus, GMELIN, Syst. Nat., i, 1788, 287. 
Bubo virginianus, BONAPARTE, List, 1838, 6. 
Distinguished by its large size, in connection withthe conspicious ear tufts ; the other 
species of similar dimensions are tuftless. The plumage varies interminably, and no 
concise description will meet all its phases; itis a variegation of blackish, with dark 
and light-brown, and fulvous. A white collar is the most constant color mark. Length 
about 2 feet; wing, 14-16 inches; tail, 9-10. 
Habitat, the Western Hemisphere. Common and generally distributed in wooded 
regions in the United States. 
Common resident. Breeds. This is the largest of all the Owls with 
ear tufts, and perhaps the only one of sufficient size and abundance to 
cause much damage by its depredations upon hen-roosts. It frequents 
most especially deep woods and swamps, and may frequently beseen flying 
or perching in day time, when it sees tolerably well. On such occasions 
it is uusally attended by an unfriendly escort of Crows, Jays and smaller 
birds, who pester it relentlessly. 
Sometimes it is taken in traps set for itself or other wild animals, and 
when wounded, fights fiercely both with bill and claws; even the snap- 
ping of its bill is sufficient to induce caution on the part of those ap- 
proaching. 
The food of the Great Horned Owl consists of small quadrupeds such as 
rats, mice, squirrels and occasionally rabbits, birds, reptiles and fish. 
The nest is placed either in the fork of a high tree or in a cavity. 
Sometimes they occupy the deserted nest of a hawk. The eggs are two, 
dull white, nearly*spherical,'and measure 2.30 by 2.00. 
