Short and compact; head, large; ear-tufts, prominent; wing, with the fourth quill slightly longest; tail, short, somewhat curved inwards; tarsi, long, fully clothed with feathers; toes, hairy. Adult. Entire plumage above, pale ashy-brown, nearly every feather with a longitudinal line, or stripe of dark brown, nearly black, and irregularly mottled, and with irregular transverse lines of brown, more or less tinged with ashy. Under parts, ashy-white, every feather with a longitudinal stripe of brownish black and with transverse lines of the same color; face and throat and tarsi ashy-white, irregularly lined and mottled with pale brownish; quills, brown, with transverse bands, nearly white on the outer webs, and pale ashy brown on their inner webs; tail, pale ashy-brown, with about ten transverse narrow bands of pale cinereous with a tinge of reddish; under wing-coverts, white, the larger tipped with black; bill and claws, light horn-color; irides, yellow. Younger. Entire upper parts, pale brownish-red, some feathers, especially on the head and scapulars, having longitudinal lines of brownish-black; under parts, white, some feathers with longitudinal stripes and lines of reddish-brown; feathers before the eyes, throat, under wing-coverts, and tarsi, white, frequently with a tinge of reddish; quills, reddish-brown, with transverse bands rufous on the outer webs, ashy on their inner; tail, rufous, with brown bands deeper on the inner webs. Young. Upper parts, except the head, rufous; head and entire under parts transversely striped with ashy-white and pale brown. Very Young. Entire plumage transversely striped with ashy-white and pale brown, tinged with rufous on the wings and tail; white nearly pure on under surface of the body. Dimensions. Total length, 9½; to 10 inches; wing, 7; tail, 3½ inches. Male but slightly smaller. Hab. The whole of North America; Greenland (Fabricius); Canada (Dr. Hall); Minnesota (Mr. Pratten); Ohio (Prof. Kirtland); Oregon (Dr. Townsend); California (Dr. Heermann); Long Island (Mr. Giraud); South Carolina (Prof. Gibbes); Indian Territory (Dr. Woodhouse). Breeds in Pennsylvania. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada. Obs. This is one of the most abundant of the Owls inhabiting the States on the Atlantic seaboard. It presents two constant varieties of plumage, which have been regarded as distinct species; the mottled or gray described above as the adult, and the red described as younger. These two varieties appear to be very similar to those of the European _Syrnium aluco_, and to some other species.