Mr. Ridgway found this Owl to be very abundant in the Sacramento Valley, as well as throughout the Great Basin, in both regions inhabiting dense willow copses near the streams. In the interior it generally lays its eggs in the deserted nests of the Magpie. The eggs of this Owl, when fresh, are of a brilliant white color, with a slight pinkish tinge, which they preserve even after having been blown, if kept from the light. They are of a rounded-oval shape, and obtuse at either end. They vary considerably in size, measuring from 1.65 to 1.50 inches in length, and from 1.30 to 1.35 inches in breadth. Two eggs, taken from the same nest by Rev. C. M. Jones, have the following measurements: one 1.60 by 1.34 inches, the other 1.50 by 1.30 inches. Otus (Brachyotus) brachyotus, STEPH. SHORT-EARED OWL; MARSH OWL. _Strix brachyotus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. 289, 1789.—FORST. Phil. Trans. LXII, 384.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. xxxiii, f. 3.—AUD. Birds Am. pl. ccccxxxii, 1831.—IB. Orn. Biog. V, 273.—RICH. & SWAINS. F. B. A. II, 75.—BONAP. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 37.—THOMPS. N. H. Vermont, p. 66.—PEAB. Birds Mass. p. 89. _Ulula brachyotus_, JAMES. (WILS.), Am. Orn. I, 106, 1831.—NUTT. Man. 132. _Otus brachyotus_, (STEPH.) JARD. (WILS.), Am. Orn. II, 63, 1832.—PEALE, U. S. Expl. Exp. VIII, 75.—KAUP, Monog. Strig. Cont. Orn. 1852, 114.—IB. Tr. Zoöl. Soc. IV, 1859, 236.—HUDSON, P. Z. S. 1870, 799 (habits). _Asio brachyotus_, STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 259, 1855. _Otus brachyotus americanus_, MAX. Cab. Jour. II, 1858, 27. _Brachyotus palustris_, BONAP. List. 1838, p. 7.—RIDGW. in COUES, Key, 1872, 204. _Otus palustris_, (DARW.) DE KAY, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 28, pl. xii, f. 27, 1844. _Brachyotus palustris americanus_, BONAP. Consp. Av. p. 51, 1849. _Brachyotus cassini_, BREWER, Pr. Boston Soc. N. H.—NEWB. P. R. Rep’t, VI, IV, 76.—HEERM. do. VII, 34, 1857.—CASSIN (in BAIRD) Birds N. Am. 1858, 54.—COOP. & SUCKL. P. R. Rep’t, XII, ii, 155, 1860.—COUES, P. A. N. S. (Prod. Orn. Ariz.) 1866, 14.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 51, 1869. _Brachyotus galopagoensis_, GOULD, P. Z. S. 1837, 10. _Otus galopagoensis_, DARW. Zool. Beag. pt. iii, p. 32, pl. iii.—GRAY, Gen. fol. sp. 3; List Birds Brit. Mus. 108.—BONAP. Consp. 51. _Asio galopagoensis_, STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 1855, 211.