Bubo virginianus, var. pacificus, Cass.
Bubo virginianus pacificus, Cassin, Birds N. Am. 1858, 49. Bubo virginianus, var. pacificus, Coues, Key, 1872, 202. Bubo virginianus, Coop. & Suckley, P. R. Rept. XII, II, 1860, 154.—Lord, Pr. R. A. S. IV, III (British Columbia). ? Dall & Bannister, Tr. Chicago Ac. I, 1869, 272 (Alaska).—? Finsch, Abh. Nat. III, 26 (Alaska).
Sp. Char. The opposite extreme from var. arcticus. The black shades predominating and the white mottling replaced by pale grayish; the form of the mottling above is less regularly transverse, being oblique or longitudinal, and more in blotches than in the other styles. The primary coverts are plain black; the primaries are mottled gray and plain black. On the tail the mottling is very dark, the lighter markings on the middle feathers being thrown into longitudinal splashes. Beneath, the black bars are nearly as wide as the white, fully double their width in var. arcticus. The legs are always thickly barred. The lining of the wings is heavily barred with black. Face dull grayish, barred with dusky; ear-tufts almost wholly black.
♂ (45,842, Sitka, Alaska, November, 1866; Ferd. Bischoff). Wing-formula, 3, 2=4–5–1, 6. Wing, 14.00; tail, 8.00; culmen, 1.10; tarsus, 2.05; middle toe, .95.
Face with obscure bars of black; ochraceous of the bases of the feathers is distinct. There are seven black spots on the primaries, eight on the tail; on the latter exceeding the paler in width.
♀ (27,075, Yukon River, mouth Porcupine, April 16, 1861; R. Kennicott). Wing-formula, 3, 2=4–5–1, 6. Wing, 16.00; tail, 9.80; culmen, 1.15; tarsus, 2.00. Eight black spots on primaries, seven on tail.
Hab. Pacific coast north of the Columbia; Labrador. A northern littoral form.
A specimen from Labrador (34,958, Fort Niscopec, H. Connolly) is an extreme example of this well-marked variety. In this the rufous is entirely absent, the plumage consisting wholly of brownish-black and white, the former predominating; the jugulum and the abdomen medially are conspicuously snowy-white; the black bars beneath are broad, and towards the end of each feather they become coalesced into a prevalent mottling, forming a spotted appearance.
Another (11,792, Simiahmoo, Dr. C. B. Kennerly) from Washington Territory has the black even more prevalent than in the last, being almost continuously uniform on the scapulars and lesser wing-coverts; beneath the black bars are much suffused. In this specimen the rufous tinge is present, as it is in all except the Labrador skin.
Habits. The Great Horned Owl has an extended distribution throughout at least the whole of North America from ocean to ocean, and from Central America to the Arctic regions. Throughout this widely extended area it is everywhere more or less abundant, except where it has been driven out by the increase of population. In this wide distribution the species naturally assumes varying forms and exhibits considerable diversities of coloring. These are provided with distinctive names to mark the races, but should all be regarded as belonging to one species, as they do not present any distinctive variation in habit.