Part 16

=Screech Owl=: Otus asio (Linnaeus).--This is a common resident in woodland habitats throughout Kansas. O. a. aikeni (Brewster) occurs west of Rawlins, Gove, and Comanche counties, and O. a. naevius (Gmelin) occurs in the remainder of the State except for the eastern south-central sector, occupied by O. a. hasbroucki Ridgway.

Breeding schedule.--Fifteen records of egg-laying span the period March 20 to May 10; there is a strong mode at April 5.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.0, 3-6; 12).

Nests are placed in holes and recesses in trees, three to 20 feet high.

=Great Horned Owl=: Bubo virginianus (Gmelin).--This is a common resident throughout Kansas, especially near woodlands and cliffsides. B. v. virginianus (Gmelin) occurs east of a line through Rawlins and Meade counties and B. v. occidentalis Stone occurs to the west.

Breeding schedule.--Fifty-seven records of egg-laying span the period January 11 to March 20 (Fig. 4); the modal date for laying is near February 10.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (2.4, 2-3; 22).

Nests are placed about 30 feet high in cottonwood, elm, osage orange, hackberry, juniper, locust, cliffsides, and buildings of man. Old nests of hawks, crows, and herons are frequently appropriated.

=Burrowing Owl=: Speotyto cunicularia hypugaea (Bonaparte).--This is an uncommon summer resident in western Kansas in grassland and open scrub habitats. Stations of breeding all come from west of a line running through Cloud and Barber counties. Arrival in spring is between March 22 and April 17 (the median for 7 records is April 9), and dates last seen in autumn span the period September 8 to November 14 (the median for 9 records is September 26).

Breeding schedule.--Twenty-one records of egg-laying run from April 11 to July 10 (Fig. 4); the mode of laying is May 15.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 7 or 8 eggs.

Nests are informal aggregations of plant and animal fibers in chambers of earthen burrows usually made by badgers or prairie dogs.

=Barred Owl=: Strix varia varia Barton.--This is a local resident in eastern Kansas, in heavy woodland. The species is said by implication (A. O. U. Check-list, 1957) to occur in western Kansas, but no good breeding records are available, all such records coming from and east of Morris County. Specimens from southeastern Kansas show morphologic intergradation with characters of S. v. georgica Latham.

Breeding schedule.--Three records of egg-laying are for the first half of March.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size in our sample is 2 eggs.

Nests are situated in cavities in trees or in old hawk or crow nests.

=Long-eared Owl=: Asio otus wilsonianus (Lesson).--This owl is a local resident or summer resident in woodland with heavy cover throughout the State. Breeding records are available from Trego, Meade, Cloud, and Douglas counties.

Breeding schedule.--Four records of egg-laying are for the period March 11 to April 10.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 5 or 6 eggs.

Nests are placed in hollows of trees, stumps, cliffsides, on the ground surface, or in old hawk, crow, or magpie nests (Davie, 1898).

=Short-eared Owl=: Asio flammeus flammeus (Pontoppidan).--This is a local resident or summer resident in open, marshy, and edge habitats; records of nesting come from Republic, Marshall, Woodson, and Bourbon counties.

Breeding schedule.--Eggs are laid at least in April.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is about 6 eggs (Davie, 1898).

Nests are simple structures of sticks and grasses, placed on the ground in grasses, frequently near cover of downed timber or bushes.

=Saw-whet Owl=: Aegolius acadicus acadicus (Gmelin).--This is a rare and local resident, in woodland. There is one breeding record (summer, 1951, Wyandotte County; Tordoff, 1956:331).

=Chuck-will's-widow=: Caprimulgus carolinensis Gmelin.--This is a locally common summer resident in woodland habitats in eastern Kansas. Stations of occurrence of actual breeding fall south of Wyandotte County and east of Shawnee, Greenwood, Stafford, and Sedgwick counties.

Breeding schedule.--Five records of breeding come between April 21 and May 31, with a peak perhaps in the first third of May.

Number of eggs.--Clutch-size is 2 eggs.