Tufts inconspicuous, general colour of plumage buff variegated with dark brown; eye surrounded by a ring of brownish-black, much broader behind; anterior half of disk white, with the tips black, posterior yellowish; anterior auricular ruff white, posterior yellowish, each feather with an oblong dark brown spot; upper parts buff, longitudinally streaked with dark brown; scapulars and wing-coverts spotted and banded in large patches, many with a large yellowish-white spot on the outer web near the end; quills buff, with two or three dark brown bands; tail similar, with five broad dark bands, the tip yellowish-white; on the middle feathers, the light-coloured spaces have a brown central patch; lower parts pale buff, whitish behind, the neck with oblong, the breast and sides with linear dark brown streaks; chin, feet, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts unspotted. _Male_, 15, 40. _Female_, 17, 45. From Texas eastward. Columbia River. Common. Migratory. Short-eared Owl, Strix brachyotos, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. iv. p. 64. Strix brachyotos, Bonap. Syn. p. 37. Short-eared Owl, Strix brachyotos, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 132. Short-eared Owl, Strix brachyotos, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. v. p. 273. GENUS VI. BUBO, Cuvier. HORNED-OWL. Bill short, stout, broader than high at the base, compressed toward the end; upper mandible with its dorsal line curved from the base, the edges with a slight festoon, the tip trigonal, very acute; lower mandible with the dorsal line convex, the tip obliquely truncate. Nostrils broadly elliptical, aperture of ear elliptical, less than half the height of the head, without operculum. Feet of ordinary length; tarsi and toes feathered. Plumage full and very soft; facial disks complete; a tuft of elongated feathers on each side of the crown of the head. Wings ample, the first quill short, the fourth longest. Tail of ordinary length, rounded. 39. 1. Bubo Virginianus, Gmel. Virginian Horned-Owl.--Great Horned-Owl. Plate LXI. Male and Female. Upper part of the head brownish-black, mottled with light brown, the tufts of the same colour, margined with brown; face brownish-red, with a circle of blackish-brown; upper parts undulatingly banded and minutely mottled with brownish-black and yellowish-red, behind tinged with grey; wings and tail light brownish-yellow, barred and mottled with blackish-brown and light brownish-red; chin white; upper part of throat light reddish, spotted with black, a band of white across the middle of fore neck; its lower part and the breast light yellowish-red, barred with deep brown, as are the lower parts generally; several longitudinal brownish-black patches on the lower fore neck; tarsal feathers light yellowish-red, obscurely barred. _Male_, 23, 56. _Female_, 25, 60. From Texas northward. Resident. Not rare in the south. Great Horned-Owl, Strix Virginiana, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vi. p. 52. Strix Virginiana, Bonap. Syn. p. 37.