Part 5

In Louisiana, as Mr. Audubon states, it is more abundant than anywhere else; and Dr. Woodhouse speaks of it as very common in the Indian Territories, and also in Texas and New Mexico, especially in the timbered lands bordering the streams and ponds of that region. In July, 1846, while in pursuit of shore birds in the island of Muskeget, near Nantucket, in the middle of a bright day, I was surprised by meeting one of these birds, which, uninvited, joined us in the hunt, and when shot proved to be a fine male adult specimen.

The Barred Owl was found in great abundance in Florida by Mr. J. A. Allen, the only species of Owl at all common, and where its ludicrous notes were heard at night everywhere, and even occasionally in the daytime. At night they not unfrequently startle the traveller by their strange utterances from the trees directly over his head.

Mr. Dresser speaks of it as very abundant at all seasons of the year in the wooded parts of Texas. He was not able to find its nest, but was told by the hunters that they build in hollow trees, near the banks of the rivers.

According to Mr. Downes, this Owl is common throughout Nova Scotia, where it is resident, and never leaves its particular neighborhood. It breeds in the woods throughout all parts of that colony, and was observed by him to feed on hares, spruce and ruffed grouse, and other birds. It is said to be a quite common event for this bird to make its appearance at midnight about the camp-fires of the moose-hunter and the lumberer, and to disturb their slumbers with its cries, as with a demoniacal expression it peers into the glare of the embers. Distending its throat and pushing its head forward, it gives utterance to unearthly sounds that to the superstitious are quite appalling.

Mr. Wilson regarded this species as one of the most common of the Owls in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, where it was particularly numerous in winter, among the woods that border the extensive meadows of the Schuylkill and the Delaware River. He frequently observed it flying during the day, when it seemed to be able to see quite distinctly. He met with more than forty of these birds in one spring, either flying or sitting exposed in the daytime, and once discovered one of its nests situated in the crotch of a white oak, among thick foliage, and containing three young. It was rudely put together, made outwardly of sticks, intermixed with dry grasses and leaves, and lined with smaller twigs. He adds that this Owl screams in the day in the manner of a Hawk. Nuttall characterizes their peculiar hooting as a loud guttural call, which he expresses by _’koh-’koh-’ko-’ko-’ho_, or as _’whah-’whah-’whah-’whah-aa_, heard occasionally both by day and by night. It is a note of recognition, and may be easily imitated, and can be used as a means to decoy the birds. Nuttall received a specimen that had been shot in November, hovering, in the daytime, over a covey of Quail.

Mr. Audubon speaks of the peculiar hooting cries of this species as strangely ludicrous in sound, and as suggestive of an affected burst of laughter. He adds that he has frequently seen this nocturnal marauder alight within a few yards of his camp-fire, exposing its whole body to the glare of the light, and eying him in a very curious manner, and with a noticeable liveliness and oddness of motion. In Louisiana, where he found them more abundant than anywhere else, Mr. Audubon states that, should the weather be lowering, and indicative of the approach of rain, their cries are so multiplied during the day, and especially in the evening, and they respond to each other in tones so strange, that one might imagine some extraordinary _fête_ was about to take place among them. At this time their gesticulations are said to be of a very extraordinary nature.

The flight of this Owl is described as remarkably smooth, light, noiseless, and capable of being greatly protracted. So very lightly do they fly, that Mr. Audubon states he has frequently discovered one passing over him, and only a few yards distant, by first seeing its shadow on the ground, in the bright moonlight, when not the faintest rustling of its wings could be heard.

This Owl has the reputation of being very destructive to poultry, especially to half-grown chickens. In Louisiana they are said to nest in March, laying their eggs about the middle of the month. Audubon states that they nest in hollow trees on the dust of the decomposed wood, and at other times take possession of the deserted nest of a crow, or of a Red-tailed Hawk. In New England I think they construct their own nest. Mr. William Street, of Easthampton, Mass., has twice found the nest of this Owl. On one occasion it had young, unfledged. Upon returning to get them, a few days later, they had disappeared, and as he conjectures, had been removed by their parents. Another time he found a nest in a lofty pine, and at a height of sixty feet. He saw and shot the old bird. He has often found them hiding themselves by day in a thick hemlock. In the winter of 1869, Mr. Street witnessed a singular contest between a Barred Owl and a Goshawk over a Grouse which the latter had killed, but of which the Owl contested the possession. The Hawk had decidedly the advantage in the fight, when the contest was arrested by shooting the Owl. He has noticed a pair of Barred Owls in his neighborhood for the past four years, and has never known them to hoot from the time they have reared their young to the 14th of February. They then begin about an hour after dark, and their hooting continues to increase until about the 8th of April, when they mate, at which time their hooting may be heard both day and night. There is a very great difference observable between the cries of the female and the utterances of the male. The latter seldom hoots, and there is as much difference between his voice and that of the female as between the crowing of a young bird and of the old cock.

In two instances I have known well-developed eggs of this Owl taken from the oviduct of the female in February. One of these cases occurred near Niagara Falls in the spring of 1852. The other, in 1854, was noticed by Professor William Hopkins, then of Auburn, N. Y., to whose kindness I was indebted for the egg the parentage of which is so unquestionable. It is purely white, almost globular, and, except in shape, hardly distinguishable from the egg of the domestic Hen. It is 2.00 inches in length, and 1.69 in breadth.

Syrnium occidentale, XANTUS.

WESTERN BARRED OWL; SPOTTED OWL.

_Syrnium occidentale_, XANTUS, P. A. N. S. Philad. 1859, 193.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. App. pl. lxvi.—COUES, Key, 1872, 204.

SP. CHAR. _Adult_ (♂, 17,200, Fort Tejon, California; J. Xantus. Type of Xantus’s description). Above deep umber-brown, much as in _S. nebulosum_. Whole head and neck with circular and cordate spots of white, one near the end of each feather; on the scapulars and back, rump, wings, and tail, they are rather sparse and more transverse, but of very irregular form; they are most conspicuous on the scapulars and larger wing-coverts. Secondaries crossed with about six bands of paler brown, each spot growing white on the edge of the feather,—the last band terminal; primaries with seven transverse series of pale brown, or brownish-white, quadrate spots on outer webs, the last terminal; these spots are almost clear white on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth quills. Tail with about eight very narrow, rather obsolete, bands of pale brown, growing whiter and more distinct terminally, the last forming a conspicuous terminal band. Ground-color of the lower parts dull white, somewhat tinged with ochraceous laterally; everywhere with numerous transverse spots and bars of brown like the back,—this predominating anteriorly, the white forming spots on opposite webs; on the lower tail-coverts the transverse spots or bars are very sharply defined and regular, the brown rather exceeding the white. Face, eyebrows, and lores soiled brownish-white, the former with obscure concentric semicircles of darker brownish. Facial circle blackish-brown, spotted posteriorly with white; across the neck in front, it is more broken. Legs white, with sparse obsolete transverse specks. Wing-formula, 4, 3, 5–6–2; 1=9. Wing, 13.10; tail, 9.00; culmen, .85; tarsus, 2.10; middle toe, 1.30. Length, “18”; extent, “40.”

HAB. Southern Middle Province of United States (Fort Tejon, California, XANTUS; and Tucson, Arizona, BENDIRE).

HABITS. Nothing is on record concerning the habits of this bird.

GENUS NYCTALE, BREHM.

_Nyctale_, BREHM, 1828. (Type, _Strix tengmalmi_, GMEL.)

GEN. CHAR. Size small. Head very large, without ear-tufts. Eyes moderate; iris yellow. Two outer primaries only with their inner webs distinctly emarginated. Tarsi and toes densely, but closely, feathered. Ear-conch very large, nearly as high as the skull, with an anterior operculum; the two ears exceedingly asymmetrical, not only externally, but in their osteological structure. Furcula not anchylosed posteriorly, but joined by a membrane.

Of this genus only three species are as yet known; two of these belong to the Northern Hemisphere, one of them (_N. tengmalmi_) being circumpolar, the other (_N. acadica_) peculiar to North America. The habitat of the remaining species (_N. harrisi_) is unknown, but is supposed to be South America. If it be really from that portion of the New World, it was probably obtained in a mountainous region.

Species and Races.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Above umber, or chocolate, brown, spotted with white (more or less uniform in the young); beneath white with longitudinal stripes of reddish-brown (adult), or ochraceous without markings (young).

=A.= Nostril sunken, elongate-oval, obliquely vertical, opening laterally; cere not inflated. Tail considerably more than half the wing. Bill yellow.

1. =N. tengmalmi.= Wing, 7.20; tail, 4.50; culmen, .60; tarsus, 1.00; middle toe, .67 (average).

Legs white, almost, or quite, unspotted; lower tail-coverts with narrow shaft-streaks of brown. (Light tints generally predominating.) _Hab._ Northern portions of Palæarctic Realm …

var. _tengmalmi_.[23]

Legs ochraceous, thickly spotted with brown; lower tail-coverts with broad medial stripes of brown. (Dark tints generally predominating.) _Hab._ Northern portions of Nearctic Realm …

var. _richardsoni_.

=B.= Nostril prominent, nearly circular, opening anteriorly; cere somewhat inflated. Tail scarcely more than half the wing. Bill black.

2. =N. acadica.= Wing, 5.25 to 5.80; tail, 2.60 to 3.00; culmen, .50; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .60. _Juv._ Face dark brown; forehead and crown brown; occiput brown; eyebrows and sides of chin white; throat and breast umber-brown. (= “_albifrons_,” Shaw = “_kirtlandi_,” HOY.) _Hab._ Cold temperate portions of Nearctic Realm.

3. =N. harrisi.=[24] Wing, 5.80; tail, 3.00; culmen, .50; tarsus, 1.00; middle toe, .80. _Juv._ (?) Face and forehead and anterior half of crown and whole nape ochraceous; posterior half of crown and occiput black; eyebrows and sides of chin ochraceous; throat and breast ochraceous. A narrow belt of black spots in ruff across throat. _Hab._ South America?

Nyctale tengmalmi, var. richardsoni, BONAP.

AMERICAN SPARROW OWL; RICHARDSON’S OWL.

_Nyctale richardsoni_, BONAP. List. E. & N. A. Birds, p. 7, 1838; Consp. Av. p. 54, 1850.—GRAY, Gen. B. fol. sp. 2, 1844.—CASS. Birds Cal. & Tex. p. 185, 1854; Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 57.—KAUP, Monog. Strig. Cont. Orn. 1852, p. 105 (sub. _tengmalmi_).—IB. Tr. Zoöl. Soc. IV, 1859, 208.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 176, 1865.—MAYNARD, Birds Eastern Mass. 1870, 133.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 51, 1869. _Strix tengmalmi_, RICH. & SWAINS. F. B. A. II, 94, pl. xxxii, 1831.—AUD. Birds Am. pl. ccclxxx, 1831; Orn. Biog. IV, 599, 1831.—PEAB. Birds Mass. p. 91, 1841. _Nyctale tengmalmi_, DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago Acad. I, 1869, 273. _Nyctale tengmalmi_, var. _richardsoni_, RIDGWAY, Am. Nat. VI, May, 1872, 285.—COUES, Key, 1872, 206.

SP. CHAR. _Adult_ (♀, 3,886, Montreal, Canada, September, 1853; Broome). Upper surface brownish-olive or umber-brown. Forehead and crown with numerous elliptical (longitudinal) marks of white, feathers everywhere with large partly concealed spots of the same; these spots are largest on the neck and scapulars, on the latter of a roundish form, the outer webs of those next the wing being almost wholly white, the edge only brown; on the nape the spots form V-shaped marks, the spots themselves being somewhat pointed; below this is a transverse, less distinct collar, of more concealed spots; wing-coverts toward the edge of the wing with a few large, nearly circular, white spots; secondaries with two transverse series of smaller white spots, these crossing about the middle, remote from the end and base; outer feathers of the alula with two white spots along the margin; primary coverts plain; primaries with four or five transverse series of white spots; tail with the same number of narrow transverse spots, forming incontinuous bands, the spots not touching the shaft,—the last spot not terminal. Facial circle much darker brown than the crown, and speckled with irregular spots of white, these either medial or upon only one web; across the throat the circle becomes paler brown, without the white spotting. Eyebrows and face grayish-white; lores and eyelids blackish. Lower parts white, becoming pale ochraceous on the legs; sides of the breast, sides, flanks, and lower tail-coverts with daubs of brown (slightly lighter and more reddish than on the back), those of the breast somewhat transverse, but posteriorly they are decidedly longitudinal; front of tarsus clouded with brown. Wing-formula, 3, 4–2–5–6–7–1. Wing, 7.20; tail, 4.50; culmen, .60; tarsus, 1.00; middle toe, .67.

A female from Alaska (49,802, Nulato, April 28, 1867; W. H. Dall) is considerably darker than the specimen described above; the occiput has numerous circular spots of white, and the tarsi are more thickly spotted; no other differences, however, are appreciable. Two specimens from Quebec (17,064 and 17,065; Wm. Cooper) are exactly similar to the last, but the numerous white spots on the forehead are circular.

HAB. Arctic America; in winter south into northern border of United States; Canada (DR. HALL); Wisconsin (DR. HOY); Oregon (J. K. TOWNSEND); Massachusetts (MAYNARD).

The _Nyctale richardsoni_, though, without doubt, specifically the same as the _N. tengmalmi_ of Europe, is, nevertheless, to be distinguished from it. The colors of the European bird are very much paler; the legs are white, scarcely variegated, instead of ochraceous, thickly spotted; the lower tail-coverts have merely shaft-streaks of brown, instead of broad stripes. Very perfect specimens from Europe enable me to make a satisfactory comparison.

From an article by Mr. D. G. Elliot in Ibis (1872, p. 48), it would appear that the young of _N. tengmalmi_ is very different from the adult in being darker and without spots; a stripe from the eye over the nostrils, and a patch under the eye at the base of bill, white. It is probable, therefore, that the American race has a similar plumage, which, however, has as yet escaped the honor of a name; more fortunate than the young of _N. acadica_, which boasts a similar plumage. This (_N. albifrons_) Mr. Elliot erroneously refers to the _N. tengmalmi_, judging from specimens examined by him from the Alps, from Russia, and from Norway. The most striking difference, judging from the description, apart from that of size, appears to be in the whiter bill of the _tengmalmi_.

HABITS. This race is an exclusively northern bird, peculiar to North America, and rarely met with in the limits of the United States. A few specimens only have been obtained in Massachusetts. Dr. Hoy mentions it as a bird of Wisconsin, and on the Pacific Dr. Townsend met with it as far south as Oregon, where it seems to be more abundant than on the eastern coast.

Mr. Boardman thinks that this Owl is probably a resident in the vicinity of Calais, where, however, it is not common. It was not taken by Professor Verrill at Norway, Maine. Mr. J. A. Allen regards it as a very rare winter visitant in Western Massachusetts, but obtained a specimen near Springfield in December, 1859. In the same winter another was shot near Boston, and one by Dr. Wood, near Hartford, Conn. Mr. Allen subsequently records the capture of a specimen in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. J. Southwick, in the winter of 1863, and mentions two other specimens, also taken within the limits of the State. It is not mentioned by Dr. Cooper as among the birds of California.

Specimens of this Owl were taken at Fort Simpson in May, and at Fort Resolution by Mr. B. R. Ross, at Big Island by Mr. J. Reid, at Fort Rae by Mr. L. Clarke, and at Fort Yukon by Mr. J. Lockhart and Mr. J. McDougall, and at Selkirk Settlement, in February and March, by Mr. Donald Gunn.

Mr. B. R. Ross states that though no specimens of this Owl were received from north of Fort Simpson, yet he is quite certain that it ranges to the Arctic Circle. He says it is a fierce bird, and creates great havoc among the flocks of Linnets and other small birds. Its nest is built on trees, and the eggs are three or four in number, of a pure white color and nearly round shape. It sometimes seizes on the deserted hole of a Woodpecker for a habitation.

Mr. Dall obtained a female specimen of this Owl at Nulato, April 28, where it was not uncommon. It was often heard crying in the evenings, almost like a human being, and was quite fearless. It could be readily taken in the hand without its making any attempt to fly away, but it had a habit of biting viciously. It was frequently seen in the daytime sitting on trees. According to the Indians, it generally nests in holes in dead trees, and lays six spherical white eggs. Richardson informs us that it inhabits all the wooded country from Great Slave Lake to the United States, and is very common on the banks of the Saskatchewan. It was obtained in Canada by the Countess of Dalhousie, but at what season the bird was met with is not stated; the Smithsonian Institution also possesses specimens from the vicinity of Montreal. It probably does not breed so far south as that place, or, if so, very rarely. Mr. Audubon procured a specimen near Bangor, Maine, in September, the only one he ever met with.

This Owl, according to Mr. Hutchins, builds a nest of grass half-way up a pine-tree, and lays two eggs in the month of May.

A drawing, taken by Mr. Audubon from a specimen in an English cabinet, represents a nearly spherical egg, the color of which is white with a slight tinge of yellowish, and which measures 1.18 inches in length by one inch in breadth.

The only authenticated eggs of this variety which have come under my notice are three collected at Fort Simpson, May 4, 1861, by B. R. Ross. One of these measures 1.28 by 1.06 inches.

Nyctale acadica, BONAP.

SAW-WHET OWL; WHITE-FRONTED OWL; KIRTLAND’S OWL.

_Strix acadica_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 296, 1789.—DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 206, 1800.—VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 49, 1807.—AUD. Birds Am. pl. cxcix, 1831; Orn. Biog. V, 397.—RICH. & SWAINS. F. B. A. II, 97, 1831.—BONAP. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, pp. 38, 436; Isis, 1832, p. 1140.—JARD. (WILS.) Am. Orn. II, 66.—NAUM. Nat. Vög. Deutschl. (ed. Nov.) I, 434, pl. xliii, figs. 1 & 2.—PEAB. Birds Mass. p. 90.—NUTT. Man. p. 137, 1833. _Nyctale acadica_, BONAP. List, p. 7, 1838; Consp. Av. p. 44.—GRAY, Gen. B. fol. App. p. 3, 1844.—KAUP, Monog. Strig. Cont. Orn. 1852, p. 104.—IB. Tr. Zoöl. Soc. IV, 1859, 206.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 176, 1855.—NEWB. P. R. R. Rept. VI, 77, 1857.—CASS. Birds N. Am. 1858, 58.—COOP. & SUCK. P. R. R. Rept. XII, II, 156, 1860.—COUES, Prod. B. Ariz. 14, 1866.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 1869, 51.—LORD, Pr. R. A. I. IV, III (Brit. Columb.).—RIDGWAY, Am. Nat. VI, May, 1872, 285.—COUES, Key, 1872, 206.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 51, 1869. _Scotophilus acadicus_, SWAINS. Classif. Birds II, 217, 1837. _Strix passerina_, PENN. Arct. Zoöl. p. 236, sp. 126, 1785.—FORST. Phil. Transl. LXII, 385.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. xxxiv, f. 1, 1808. _Ulula passerina_, JAMES. (WILS.), Am. Orn. I, 159, 1831. _Strix acadiensis_, LATH. Ind. Orn. p. 65, 1790. _S. albifrons_, SHAW, Nat. Misc. V, pl. clxxi, 1794; Zoöl. VII, 238, 1809.—LATH. Orn. Supp. p. 14. _Bubo albifrons_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 54, 1807. _Scops albifrons_, STEPH. Zoöl. XIII, II, 51. _Nyctale albifrons_, CASS. Birds Cal. & Tex. 187, 1854.—BONAP. Consp. Av. p. 54.—CASS. Birds N. Am. 1858, 57.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 52, 1869. _Strix frontalis_, LICHT. Abh. Ak. Berl. 1838, 430. _Nyctale kirtlandi_, HOY, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. VI, 210, 1852. _S. phalænoides_, DAUD. Tr. Orn. II, 206, 1800.—LATH. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. 16, 1802; Syn. Supp. II, 66; Gen. Hist. I, 372, 1828. _Athene phalænoides_, GRAY, Gen. B. fol. sp. 43, 1844. _Athene wilsoni_, BOIE, Isis, 1828, 315.

SP. CHAR. _Adult_ (♀, 120,044, Washington, D. C., Feb., 1859; C. Drexler). Upper surface plain soft reddish-olive, almost exactly as in _N. richardsoni_; forehead, anterior part of the crown, and the facial circle, with each feather with a short medial line of white; feathers of the neck white beneath the surface, forming a collar of blotches; lower webs of scapulars white bordered with brown; wing-coverts with a few rounded white spots; alula with the outer feathers broadly edged with white. Primary coverts and secondaries perfectly plain; five outer primaries with semi-rounded white spots on the outer webs, these decreasing toward the ends of the feathers, leaving but about four series well defined. Tail crossed with three widely separated narrow bands of white, formed of spots not touching the shaft on either web; the last band is terminal. “Eyebrow” and sides of the throat white; lores with a blackish suffusion, this more concentrated around the eye; face dirty white, feathers indistinctly edged with brownish, causing an obsoletely streaked appearance; the facial circle in its extension across the throat is converted into reddish-umber spots. Lower parts, generally, silky-white, becoming fine ochraceous on the tibiæ and tarsi; sides of the breast like the back, but of a more reddish or burnt-sienna tint; sides and flanks with longitudinal daubs of the same; jugulum, abdomen, lower tail-coverts, tarsi, and tibiæ, immaculate. Wing formula, 4–3=5–1=8. Wing, 5.40; tail, 2.80; culmen, .50; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .60.

Seven specimens before me vary from, wing, 5.25 to 5.80; tail, 2.60 to 3.00 (♀). The largest specimen is 12,053 (♀, Fort Tejon, California; J. Xantus). This differs from the specimen described in whiter face, more conspicuous white streaks on forehead, smaller, less numerous, red spots below, and in having a fourth white band on the tail; this, however, is very inconspicuous. 32,301 (Moose Factory; J. McKenzie), 9,152 (Fort Vancouver, February; Dr. J. G. Cooper), and 11,793 (Simiahmoo, October; Dr. C. B. Kennedy) are exactly like the type. There are no authentic males before me, though only two are marked as females; the extremes of the series probably represent the sexual discrepancy in size.