Color Key to North American Birds Part 41

(Bailey.)

=373.1. Spotted Screech Owl= (_Megascops trichopsis_). L. 7.7. _Ads._ Above mixed black, grayish brown and buff; black prevailing on head; feathers of foreback with buffy white _spots_ on either side near the end; below much as in No. 373f.

Range.--Southern Arizona and southward into northern Mexico.

=373.2. Xantus Screech Owl= (_Megascops xantusi_). W. 5.3. _Ad._ [Male]. Above drab, back tinged with pinkish rusty and faintly vermiculated with reddish brown; breast paler ashy faintly suffused with pinkish or rusty; belly whitish; underparts finely barred with reddish brown and streaked with clove-brown. (Brewst.)

Range.--Cape Region of Lower California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 374.]

=374. Flammulated Screech Owl= (_Megascops flammeola_). L. 7. _Ads._ Ear-tufts small; eye surrounded by rusty, then by gray; crown, nape and tips of scapulars largely rusty; neck band rusty.

Range.--Mountains of Guatemala north to Colorado (11 specimens, 7 from Boulder County, Cook), west rarely to California (2 specimens).

=374a. Dwarf Screech Owl= (_M. f. idahoensis_). Similar to No. 374, but slightly smaller and paler, especially on underparts where ground color is white and black markings are restricted.

Range.--Idaho, eastern Oregon and California (San Bernardino Mountains, 3 specimens, Grinnell).

[Ill.u.s.tration: 375.]

=375. Great Horned Owl= (_Bubo virginia.n.u.s_). [Male], L. 22; W. 15.

_Ads._ Ears conspicuous; the feathers nearly throughout the body rusty basally; facial disc rich rusty. _Notes._ A loud, low, deep-toned _whoo_, _hoo-hoo-hoo_, whooo-whooo, variable, but usually on the same note; rarely a hair-raising scream.

Range.--Eastern North America; north to Labrador, south to Central America; resident.

=375a. Western Horned Owl= (_B. v. pallescens_). Smaller and paler than No. 375, W. 13.7; facial disc washed with rusty.

Range.--Western United States, except Pacific coast region, east to Great Plains; casually Wisconsin and Illinois north to Manitoba and British Columbia; south to Mexico.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 375b.]

=375b. Arctic Horned Owl= (_B. v. arcticus_). Black and white prevailing above; bases of feathers light yellowish buff; below black and white with little or no buffy; facial disc gray.

Range.--Interior of Arctic America, from Rocky Mountains east to Hudson Bay; breeds north of Lat. 51; in winter straggles southward to adjacent border of United States; rarely to Wyoming and Nebraska.

=375c. Dusky Horned Owl= (_B. v. saturatus_). Size of No. 375b, but much darker; black bars below equalling white ones in width; darkest bird of group.

Range.--"Pacific coast region from Monterey Bay, California, north to Alaska; east to Hudson Bay and Labrador." (A.O.U.)

=375d. Pacific Horned Owl= (_B. v. pacificus_). Somewhat smaller than No. 375b, W. 13.5; more like No. 375 in color but less rusty.

Range.--California, except humid coast region; east to Arizona.

=375e. Dwarf Horned Owl= (_B. v. elachistus_). Similar to No. 375c, but very much smaller. W. [Male], 12.8; [Female], 13.4. (Brewster.)

Range.--Lower California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 376.]

=376. Snowy Owl= (_Nyctea nyctea_). L. 25. _Ad._ [Male]. White more or less barred with blackish. _Ad._ [Female]. Similar, but more heavily barred.

Range.--Northern parts of northern hemisphere; in America breeds from Lat. 50 northward; winters south to northern United States; straggles as far as Texas and California.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 377a.]

=377a. American Hawk Owl= (_Surnia ulula caparoch_). L. 15; T. 7.2 long and _rounded_. _Ads._ Above brownish black, crown thickly spotted, scapulars conspicuously margined with white; chin blackish; belly barred. _Notes._ A shrill cry generally uttered while flying.

(Fisher.)

Range.--Northern North America: breeds from Newfoundland and northern Montana northward; winters south to northern United States, rarely to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois; rare on Pacific coast.

Order XIII. PAROQUETS AND PARROTS.

PSITTACI.

Family 1. PARROTS and PAROQUETS. Psittacidae. 2 species.

Parrots are found throughout the warmer parts of the earth. About one hundred and fifty of the some five hundred known species inhabit America. The Carolina Paroquet, practically the only member of this family found in the United States, since the Thick-billed Parrot barely reaches our border in Arizona, was once an abundant bird in the Southern States, but it is now restricted to a few localities in Florida and possibly Indian Territory.

Order XIV. CUCKOOS, TROGONS, KINGFISHERS, Etc.

COCCYGES.

Family 1. CUCKOOS, ANIS, etc. Cuculidae. 5 species 2 subspecies.

Family 2. TROGONS. Trogonidae. 1 species.

Family 3. KINGFISHERS. Alcedinidae. 2 species.

The Cuckoos are a group of world-wide distribution, but are more numerous in the eastern than in the western hemisphere where only thirty-five of the some one hundred and seventy-five species are found. The habit of the European Cuckoo in placing its eggs in the nest of other birds is well known. The American species, however, build nests of their own though it is true they are far from well made structures. With the Anis one nest serves for several females who may deposit as many as thirty eggs, incubation and the care of the young being subsequently shared by the members of this singular family.

Trogons are found in the tropics of both the Old and New Worlds. They are quiet, sedentary birds inhabiting forests and feeding largely on fruit. So far as is known they nest in hollow trees.