Genus ULULA.
Gen. Coan. Bill nearly straight at the base, the tip hooked, wit]

1 a rounded culmen, cutting
margin of the upper mandible having a small lol

De OY sInuation near the middle. Facial

disk large te : itor : :
< large and complete ; auditory conch rather large, and defended by an operculum.

t quill-feather very short;
in the wing, with the third and fifth nearly equal to it.

Wings short, rounded, concave ; the firs the fourth the longest

Tail reaching beyond the closed

wings, rounded, bent, and concave beneath. Legs having the tarsi plumed, and the toes

as Bless <0. i : ae ; eee
ore or lessso. Claws moderately curved, long, short, all more o1 less grooved beneath.

BARRED OWL.

Strix nebulosa, Zznn.
Ulula nebulosa, Cuw.

La Chouette nébuleuse.

In the regions of the Old World the Barred Owl scarcely ever extends its migrations further south than Norway,
Sweden, and Russia, in which countries it is so sparingly distributed as rather to be regarded as an accidental
visitor than a native species. The northern and temperate portions of America appear to be its true habitat,
for it is dispersed over the whole of the United States, where, Mr. Audubon informs us, its peculiar cry of
Whah, whah, whah-aa, may be heard towards evening proceeding from every part of the forest. According to
this diligent observer of nature, the flight of the Barred Owl is smooth, light, and noiseless, and capable of
being greatly protracted. Mr. Audubon further remarks that its powers of vision during the day seem to be
of an equivocal character, he having seen one alight on the back of a cow, which it left so suddenly, on the
animal moving, as to leave no doubt in his mind that the Owl had mistaken the object upon which it had
perched for something else: at other times he has observed that the approach of the Grey Squirrel intimi-
dated it, if one of these animals accidentally jumped on the branch close to where it was sitting, although the
Barred Owl destroys numbers of this species of Squirrel during the twilight. It is a well-known fact that
the eyes of those Owls whose habits are strictly nocturnal differ both in colour and construction from those
which feed partially by day, or rather whose greatest powers of vision are developed in the twilight and
during dark and gloomy days. Had we not been acquainted with the habits of this bird and the colour of its
eyes, we should probably have assigned it a place among the Owls forming the genus Swrnia, to which division
it bears a strong resemblance both in the colour of its plumage and in its general contour. The noiseless
flight of the Barred Owl may be attributed to the peculiar nature of its plumage, which, like that of all other
nocturnal species, is extremely soft and yielding, enabling it to steal quickly upon its victim without exciting
observation or alarm.

Its food consists of young hares and rabbits, mice, small birds, frogs, lizards, &c.

Its eggs are deposited in the holes of decayed trees or the deserted nests of Crows and Hawks ; they are
round, of a pure white, and from four to six in number.

The male and female differ somewhat in size, the males being the smallest ; and they are also subject to con-
siderable varieties of plumage, some specimens, particularly those found in Europe, being of a very dark colour,
while others are very light.

The plumage of the generality of specimens may be thus described :

The face light ash encircled with lines of brown ; the upper part of hue plumage, together with the quills
and tail, is of a brownish grey, transversely rayed with white and yellowish bars; the front of the neck and
chest transversely barred with greyish ash and yellowish white markings ; Ne ove! part of the breast a
flanks yellowish grey with longitudinal stripes of brown; feet and toes covered with short grey feathers ; bea

yellow ; irides blackish brown.
The Plate represents an adult male, rather less than the natural size.