Family Bubonide
HORNED OWLS, HOOT OWLS, ETC.
Owls are found in all parts of the world. About two hundred species are known, of which some twenty inhabit North America. With few exceptions Owls are woodland birds, but some species live in grassy marshes or dry plains, while others make their home in towers, steeples, or outbuildings. Owls are nocturnal birds of prey, and for OWLS. this reason feed more largely on small mammals-most of which are nocturnal-than the diurnal birds of prey. They are therefore of even greater value to the agriculturist than Hawks.
Their prey is captured with their talons, and, unless too large, is swallowed entire. The bones and hair are afterward ejected at the mouth in matted pellets.
Owls' eyes are so fixed in their sockets that they can not look from one point to another by simply "rolling" the eyeball, but are obliged to turn their head. The weird, almost human, voices of Owls add not a little to the superstitious fear with which they are frequently regarded. The eggs of Owls are uniformly white, unmarked. I. Wing over 10.00.
KEY TO THE SPECIES.
A. Belly without bars, striped longitudinally. a. Upper parts with cross-bars. a1. Toes feathered a2. Toes bare b. Upper parts striped longitudinally B. Belly with cross-bars. a. With conspicuous horns or ears. a¹. Wing over 13.00. a2. Wing under 13.00 b. Without horns or ears. 368. BARRED OWL. 368a. FLORIDA BARRED OWL. 367. SHORT-EARED OWL. 375. GREAT HORNED OWL and races. 366. AM. LONG-EARED OWL. 61. Plumage white, more or less barred with black. 376. SNOWY OWL. 62. Plumage fuscous, mottled and barred with whitish. II. Wing under 10.00.
A. Toes heavily feathered. a. Wing more than 6.00. a1. Tail more than 6.00. a2. Tail less than 6.00 b. Wing less than 6.00 B. Toes thinly, if at all, feathered. 370. GREAT GRAY OWL. 377a. Aм. HAWK OWL. 371. RICHARDSON'S OWL. 372. SAW-WHET OWL. a. Tarsi heavily feathered; with conspicuous horns. 373. SCREECH (OWL. 373a. FLORIDA SCREECH OWL. 378a. FLORIDA BURROWING OWL. b. Tarsi partly bare; no horns. 366. Asio wilsonianus (Less.). AMERICAN LONG-EARED OWL. Ad. -Ear-tufts conspicuous, an inch or more in length, black bordered by white and buffy; upper parts fuscous-brown mottled with white, the bases of the feathers ochraceous-buff; tail with six to eight fuscous cross-bars; facial disk buffy bordered by black; under parts mixed white and ochraceous-buff, the breast broadly streaked, the sides and belly irregularly barred with fuscous; eyes yellow. L., 14.80; W., 11.90; T., 6.00; B., 1.06.