[en] The vibrational excitation of N₂O by electrons in the energy range 1--4 eV has been studied with a crossed-beam apparatus using an energy resolution of 22 meV and an observation angle of 40degree. The scattering in the middle of this energy range is dominated by the ²Σ⁺ shape resonance which contributes to the excitation of about 20 vibrational modes. The vibrational modes belong to four series, namely, the n00, n10, n01, and n02 series with the quantum number n ranging from 0 to 7. The energy dependence of the differential vibrational cross sections is bell shaped and exhibits no fine structure. At the center of the ²Σ⁺ resonance (2.3 eV), the n00 series is most intensely excited and has a cross section of (9.6 plus-or-minus 3.5) times 10^-18 cm²/sr for n = 1 and an exponentially decreasing magnitude for successively higher n. A similar trend of the branching ratio has also been observed in the n01 series. The present experiment combined with a calculation of Dube and Herzenberg demonstrates that the impulse picture which was originally proposed for the case of vibrational and rotational excitation in H₂, is applicable to this triatomic molecule as well. The width GAMMA for the ²Σ⁺ shape resonance of N₂O has been found to be 0.7 eV in the center of the Franck-Condon region, and it decreases for larger internuclear separations