216 owns.

twoorthree white or butl'y white bars; tail with six to eight similar bars; iiieial disk gray. lincly barred or mottled with l'nscons; under parts white, more or less tinged with bully. the breast /Hl)‘l‘u/. the sides and belly broadly s/rult'erl with t'nseous; bill yellow; legs and t'cet feathered to or near the buses ot‘ the nails; eyes brownish black. J... 20'0“; \\'.. 13230: T” trial; 13.. 1‘50.

[lull/{It.#J‘::l.\'lt‘l'll North Aim-riea. northward to Nova Seotia and Manitoba: resident. except at the northern limit ot‘ its range.

\\'ashington, not common 1’. ll. Siner Sing, rare 1’. 1-2. (‘ambridgq rare 1’. it. sometimes common in Nov. and Dee.

Ala-I, in a hollow tree; sometimes in an old Crow‘s or llawk’s nest. Egg/x, two to tour, 3'00 x 1'65.

The deep-toned. questioning:r mice, the absence of “horns,” and the dark-brown, nearly black eyes, combine to make Barred Owls appear among the most human of these strangely human birds. They inhabit large tracts of woodland, and are generally resident in certain localities. Their notes are uttered more or less throughout the year. but are more frequently heard during the nestingr reason. As a rule they call only during the first part of the night and again before sunrise. but on moonlight nights they call thrmighout the night. and occasionally they may be heard during the day. They readily respond to an imi- tation of their cries. and even at midday I have d'awn them from their nesting place to meet a supposed intruderon their domain. Un- der favorable circumstances they may be heard at a distance of at; least halt‘ a mile.

Their usual call is a sonorous 1c]:r70—zr/uTJ—u'luio, trim-114166. I‘J-u'héfi- (711. This is Varied, both as to relative, position and length of the syllables. by the same individuals. and is apparently the cry of ques- tion and response. When two birds. perhaps rival males, come to- gether. there ensues a. strikingr medley of rc/u‘t-u'litis mingled with roll- in;r whoa-tiles, the whole reminding one of deep-voiced, mirthless laughter. Sometimes two birds give a concerted performance. One utters about ten rapid lioots. while the other, in a slightly higher tone, hoots half as fast. both performers ending together with a Milled—(ill. At times they utter a single. prolonged MIME-(7h. and more rarely a weird. gasping shriek emphasized at its conclusion like a cry of dis- tress.

“Uf 109 stomachs examined, 5 contained poultry or game; 13. other birds; 46, mice; 18. other mammals; 4, frogs; 1, a lizard; 2, fish; 14, insects; 2, spiders; 9, crawtish; and 20 were empty” (Fisher).

368a. S. n. alleni lift/(Hr. Fromm Barnum HwiHVSimiiar to the preceding, but averaging.r somewhat darker. and with the toes nearly naked. \V.. 12230; T.. 8'50.

[rung/e.irl’lorida. and region of the Gulf coast to Texas.