the front one backwards, black, edged with rusty yellow; irides, vivid yellow; inside of the circle of the face, white, outside or cheeks, rusty; at the internal angle of the eye, a streak of black; bill, blackish horn colour; forehead and crown, deep brown, speckled with minute points of white and pale rusty; outside circle of the face, black, finely marked with small curving spots of white; back and wings, dark brown, sprinkled and spotted with white, pale ferruginous and dusky; primaries, barred with brownish yellow and dusky, darkening towards the tips; secondaries, more finely barred and powdered with white and dusky; tail, rounded at the end, of the same length with the wings, beautifully barred and marbled with dull white and pale rusty, on a dark brown ground; throat and breast, clouded with rusty, cream, black and white; belly, beautifully streaked with large arrow-heads of black; legs and thighs, plain pale rusty, feathered to the claws, which are blue black, large, and sharp; inside of the wing, brownish yellow, with a large spot of black at the root of the primaries. This was a female. Of the male I cannot speak precisely; though, from the numbers of these birds which I have examined in the fall, when it is difficult to ascertain their sex, I conjecture that they differ very little in colour.

About six or seven miles below Philadelphia, and not far from the Delaware, is a low swamp, thickly covered with trees, and inundated during great part of the year. This place is the resort of great numbers of the qua-bird, or night raven (ardea nycticorax,) where they build in large companies. On the 25th of April, while wading among the dark recesses of this place, observing the habits of these birds, I discovered a longeared owl, which had taken possession of one of their nests, and was sitting; on mounting to the nest, I found it contained four eggs, and, breaking one of these, the young appeared almost ready to leave the shell. There were numbers of the qua-birds' nests on the adjoining trees all around, and one of them actually on the same tree.

Thus we see how unvarying are the manners of

this species, however remote and different the countries may be where it has taken up its residence.

31. STRIX BRACHYOTOS, WILSON.—SHORT-EARED OWL.

WILSON, PLATE XXXIII. FIG. III.-MALE.-EDINBURGH COLLEGE

MUSEUM.

It

THIS is another species common to both continents, being found in Britain as far north as the Orkney Isles, where it also breeds, building its nest upon the ground, amidst the heath; arrives and disappears in the south parts of England with the woodcock, that is, in October and April; consequently does not breed there. is called at Hudson's Bay, the mouse hawk; and is described as not flying, like other owls, in search of prey, but sitting quiet, on a stump of a tree, watching for mice. It is said to be found in plenty in the woods near Chatteau Bay, on the coast of Labrador. In the United States, it is also a bird of passage, coming to us from the north in November, and departing in April. It has the stern aspect of a keen, vigorous, and active bird; and is reputed to be an excellent mouser. It flies frequently by day, particularly in dark, cloudy weather, takes short flights; and, when sitting and looking sharply around, erects the two slight feathers that constitute its horns, which are at such times very noticeable; but, otherwise, not perceivable. No person, on slightly examining this bird after being shot, would suspect it to be furnished with horns; nor are they discovered but by careful search, or previous observation on the living bird. Bewick, in his History of British Birds, remarks, that this species is sometimes seen in companies,-twenty-eight of them being once counted in a turnip field in November.

Length, fifteen inches; extent, three feet four inches; general colour above, dark brown, the feathers broadly skirted with pale yellowish brown; bill, large, black; irides, rich golden yellow, placed in a bed of deep black, which radiates outwards all around, except towards

the bill, where the plumage is whitish; ears, bordered with a semicircular line of black and tawny yellow dots; tail, rounded, longer than usual with owls, crossed with five bands of dark brown, and as many of yellow ochre,- some of the latter have central spots of dark brown,-the whole tipt with white; quills also banded with dark brown and yellow ochre; breast and belly streaked with dark brown, on a ground of yellowish; legs, thighs, and vent, plain dull yellow; tips of the three first quill feathers, black; legs, clothed to the claws, which are black, curved to about the quarter of a circle, and exceedingly sharp.

The female I have never seen; but she is said to be somewhat larger, and much darker; and the spots on the breast larger, and more numerous.

32. STRIX NEBULOSA, LINNEUS. BARRED Owl.

WILSON, PL. XXVIII. FIG. II. — EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM.

THIS is one of our most common owls. In winter particularly, it is numerous in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, among the woods that border the extensive meadows of Schuylkill and Delaware. It is very frequently observed flying during day, and certainly sees more distinctly at that time than many of its genus. In one spring, at different times, I met with more than forty of them, generally flying, or sitting exposed. I also once met with one of their nests, containing three young, in the crotch of a white oak, among thick foliage. The nest was rudely put together, composed outwardly of sticks, intermixed with some dry grass and leaves, and lined with smaller twigs. At another time, in passing through the woods, I perceived something white, on the high shaded branch of a tree, close to the trunk, that, as I thought, looked like a cat asleep. Unable to satisfy myself, I was induced to fire, when, to my surprise and regret, four young owls, of this same species, nearly full grown, came down headlong, and, fluttering for a few moments, died at my

feet. Their nest was probably not far distant. I have also seen the eggs of this species, which are nearly as large as those of a young pullet, but much more globular, and perfectly white.

These birds sometimes seize on fowls, partridges, and young rabbits; mice and small game are, however, their most usual food. The difference of size between the male and female of this owl is extraordinary, amounting sometimes to nearly eight inches in the length. Both scream during day, like a hawk.

The male barred owl measures sixteen inches and a half in length, and thirty-eight inches in extent; upper parts a pale brown, marked with transverse spots of white; wings, barred with alternate bands of pale brown, and darker; head, smooth, very large, mottled with transverse touches of dark brown, pale brown, and white; eyes, large, deep blue, the pupil not perceivable; face, or radiated circle of the eyes, grey, surrounded by an outline of brown and white dots; bill, yellow, tinged with green; breast, barred transversely with rows of brown and white; belly, streaked longitudinally with long stripes of brown, on a yellowish ground; vent, plain yellowish white; thighs and feathered legs, the same, slightly pointed with brown; toes, nearly covered with plumage; claws, dark horn colour, very sharp; tail, rounded, and remarkably concave below, barred with six broad bars of brown, and as many narrow ones of white; the back and shoulders have a cast of chestnut; at each internal angle of the eye, is a broad spot of black; the plumage of the radiated circle round the eye ends in long black hairs; and the bill is encompassed by others of a longer and more bristly kind. These probably serve to guard the eye when any danger approaches it in sweeping hastily through the woods; and those usually found on flycatchers may have the same intention to fulfil; for, on the slightest touch of the point of any of these hairs, the nictitant membrane was instantly thrown over the

eye.

The female is twenty-two inches long, and four feet in extent; the chief difference of colour consists in her

wings being broadly spotted with white; the shoulder being a plain chocolate brown; the tail extends considerably beyond the tips of the wings; the bill is much larger, and of a more golden yellow; iris of the eye, the same as that of the male.

The different character of the feathers of this, and, I believe, of most owls, is really surprising. Those that surround the bill differ little from bristles; those that surround the region of the eyes are exceeding open, and unwebbed; these are bounded by another set, generally proceeding from the external edge of the ear, of a most peculiar small, narrow, velvety kind, whose fibres are so exquisitely fine, as to be invisible to the naked eye; above, the plumage has one general character at the surface, calculated to repel rain and moisture; but, towards the roots, it is of the most soft, loose, and downy substance in nature, -so much so, that it may be touched without being felt; the webs of the wing quills are also of a delicate softness, covered with an almost imperceptible hair, and edged with a loose silky down, so that the owner passes through the air without interrupting the most profound silence. Who cannot perceive the hand of God in all these things!

33. STRIX PASSERINA, LINNÆUS. LITTLE OWL.

STRIX ACADICA, GMELIN.

WILSON, PLATE XXXIV. FIG. I.—EDINBURGH COLLEGE MUSEUM.

THIS is one of the least of its whole genus; but, like many other little folks, makes up, in neatness of general form and appearance, for deficiency of size, and is, perhaps, the most shapely of all our owls. Nor are the colours and markings of its plumage inferior in simplicity and effect to most others. It also possesses an eye fully equal in spirit and brilliancy to the best of them.

This species is a general and constant inhabitant of the middle and northern states; but is found most numerous in the neighbourhood of the sea shore, and among woods and swamps of pine trees. It rarely