Part 9

Mr. Audubon states that while the Great Horned Owl usually nests in large hollows of decayed trees, he has twice found the eggs in the fissures of rocks. In all these cases, little preparation had been made previous to the laying of the eggs, the bed consisting of only a few grasses and feathers. Wilson, who found them breeding in the swamps of New Jersey, states that the nest was generally constructed in the fork of a tall tree, but sometimes in a smaller tree. They begin to build towards the close of winter, and, even in the Arctic regions, Sir John Richardson speaks of their hatching their eggs as early as March. The shape of the egg is very nearly exactly spherical, and its color is a dull white with a slightly yellowish tinge. An egg formerly in the old Peale’s Museum of Philadelphia, taken in New Jersey by Alexander Wilson the ornithologist, and bearing his autograph upon its shell, measures 2.31 inches in length by 2.00 in breadth. Another, obtained in the vicinity of Salem, Mass., measures 2.25 inches in length by 1.88 in breadth. In the latter instance the nest was constructed on a tall and inaccessible tree in a somewhat exposed locality. The female was shot on the nest, and, as she fell, she clutched one of the eggs in a convulsive grasp, and brought it in her claws to the ground. An egg obtained in Tamaulipas, Mexico, on the Rio Grande, by Dr. Berlandier, measures 2.18 inches in length by 1.81 in breadth.

An egg from Wisconsin, taken by Mr. B. F. Goss, may be considered as about the average in size and color. It is nearly spherical, of a clear bluish-white, and measures 2.30 by 2.00 inches.

Nyctea scandiaca, var. arctica, GRAY.

AMERICAN SNOWY OWL.

_Strix arctica_, BARTRAM, Trav. in Carolina, 1792, p. 285. _Strix nyctea_, (not of LINN.!) VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. 1807, pl. xviii.—SWAINS. & RICH. F. B. A. II, 1831, 88.—BONAP. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. II, 36.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. xxxii, f. 1.—AUD. Birds Am. pl. cxxi.—IB. Orn. Biog. II, 135.—THOMPS. Nat. Hist. Vermont, p. 64.—PEAB. Birds Mass. III, 84. _Surnia nyctea_ (EDMONDST.), JAMES. (ed. WILS.), Am. Orn. I, 1831, 92.—NUTT. Man. p. 116.—KAUP, Tr. Zoöl. Soc. IV, 1859, 214. _Syrnia nyctea_ (THOMPS.), JARDINE’S (ed. WILS.) Am. Orn. II, 1832, 46. _Nyctea nivea_, (GRAY) CASS. Birds Cal. & Tex. 1854, 100.—IB. Birds N. Am. 1858, 63.—NEWTON, P. Z. S. 1861, 394 (eggs).—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 330 (Texas!).—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago Acad. I, II, 1869, 273 (Alaska).—COUES, Key, 1872, 205. _Nyctea candida_, (LATH.) BONAP. List, 1838, 6.

SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Ground-color entirely snow-white, this marked with transverse bars of clear dusky, of varying amount in different individuals.

♂ (No. 12,059, Washington, D. C., December 4, 1858; C. Drexler). Across the top of the head, and interspersed over the wings and scapulars, are small transversely cordate spots of clear brownish-black, these inclining to the form of regular transverse bars on the scapulars; there is but one on each feather. The secondaries have mottled bars of more dilute dusky; the primaries have spots of black at their ends; the tail has a single series of irregular dusky spots crossing it near the end. Abdomen, sides, and flanks with transverse crescentic bars of clear brownish-black. Wing, 16.50; tail, 9.00; culmen, 1.00; tarsus, 1.90; middle toe, 1.30. Wing-formula, 3, 2=4–5, 1.

♀ (No. 12,058, Washington, D. C., December 4, 1858). Head above and nape with each feather blackish centrally, producing a conspicuously spotted appearance. Rest of the plumage with regular, sharply defined transverse bars of clear brownish-black; those of the upper surface more crescentic, those on the lower tail-coverts narrower and more distant. Tail crossed by five bands, composed of detached transverse spots. Only the face, foreneck, middle of the breast, and feet, are immaculate; everywhere else, excepting on the crissum, the dusky and white are in nearly equal amount. Wing, 18.00; tail, 9.80; culmen, 1.10. Wing-formula, 3=4, 2–1=5.

_Young_ (No. 36,434, Arctic America, August, 1863; MacFarlane). Only partially feathered. Wings and tail as in the adult female described, but the blackish bars rather broader. Down covering the head and body dark brownish or sooty slate, becoming paler on the legs.

HAB. Northern portions of the Nearctic Realm. Breeding in the arctic and subarctic regions, and migrating in winter to the verge of the tropics. Bermuda (JARDINE); South Carolina (BARTRAM and AUDUBON); Texas (DRESSER).

Localities: Texas, San Antonio (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 330).

The Snowy Owls of North America, though varying greatly among themselves, seem to be considerably darker, both in the extremes and average conditions of plumage, than European examples. Not only are the dusky bars darker, but they are usually broader, and more extended over the general surface.

HABITS. This is an exclusively northern species, and is chiefly confined to the Arctic Circle and the adjacent portions of the temperate zone. It is met with in the United States only in midwinter, and is much more abundant in some years than in others. Individual specimens have been occasionally noticed as far south as South Carolina, but very rarely. It has also been observed in Kentucky, Ohio, the Bermuda Islands, and in nearly every part of the United States.

In the Arctic regions of North America and in Greenland it is quite abundant, and has been observed as far to the north as Arctic voyagers have yet reached. Professor Reinhardt states that it is much more numerous in the northern than in the southern part of Greenland. Sir John Richardson, who, during seven years’ residence in the Arctic regions, enjoyed unusual opportunities for studying the habits of this Owl, says that it hunts its prey in the daytime. It is generally found on the Barren Grounds, but is always so wary as to be approached with difficulty. In the wooded districts it is less cautious.

Mr. Downes states that this Owl is very abundant in Nova Scotia in winter, and that it is known to breed in the neighboring province of Newfoundland. In some years it appears to traverse the country in large flocks. In the winter of 1861–62, he adds, these birds made their appearance in Canada in large numbers.

Mr. Boardman states that they are present in winter in the vicinity of Calais, but that they are not common. A pair was noticed in the spring of 1862 as late as the last of May, and, in Mr. Boardman’s opinion, were breeding in that neighborhood. In the western part of Maine Mr. Verrill found it also rather rare, and met with it only in winter. He states that it differs greatly in disposition from the Great Horned Owl, being naturally very gentle, and becoming very readily quite tame in confinement, differing very much in this respect from most large _Raptores_.

It makes its appearance in Massachusetts about the middle or last of November, and in some seasons is quite common, though never present in very large numbers. It is bold, but rather wary; coming into thick groves of trees in close proximity to cities, which indeed it frequently enters, but keeping a sharp lookout, and never suffering a near approach. It hunts by daylight, and appears to distinguish objects without difficulty. Its flight is noiseless, graceful, easy, and at times quite rapid. In some seasons it appears to wander over the whole of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, Dr. Heermann having obtained a specimen of it near San Antonio, Texas, in the winter of 1857.

It is more abundant, in winter, near the coast, than in the interior, and in the latter keeps in the neighborhood of rivers and streams, watching by the open places for opportunities to catch fish. Mr. Audubon describes it as very expert and cunning in fishing, crouching on the edges of air-holes in the ice, and instantly seizing any fish that may come to the surface. It also feeds on hares, squirrels, rats, and other small animals. It watches the traps set for animals, especially muskrats, and devours them when caught. In the stomach of one Mr. Audubon found the whole of a large house-rat. Its own flesh, Mr. Audubon affirms, is fine and delicate, and furnishes very good eating. It is described as a very silent bird, and Mr. Audubon has never known it to utter a note or to make any sound.

Richardson states that a few remain in the Arctic regions even in midwinter, but usually in the more sheltered districts, whither it has followed the Ptarmigan, on which it feeds. When seen on the Barren Grounds, it was generally squatting on the earth, and, if disturbed, alighted again after a short flight. In the more wooded districts it is said to be bolder, and is even known to watch the Grouse-shooters, and to share in their spoils, skimming from its perch on a high tree, and carrying off the bird before the sportsman can get near it.

Mr. MacFarlane writes from Fort Anderson that he did not find this species abundant in that quarter, and that its eggs were unknown to him. Mr. B. R. Ross speaks of this Owl as widely distributed, but not common. He found it a winter resident, and has repeatedly seen it at that season near Fort Resolution, and it has been shot in February at Fort Norman. It is very destructive to the snares set by the Indians, eating the hares and breaking the snares, in which they are sometimes caught. The Indians are said to attract these birds near enough to be shot at, by tying a mouse or a piece of hare’s skin to a line, and letting it drag behind them.

Mr. Donald Gunn writes that the Snowy Owl is merely a visitor in the districts to the west of Lake Winnepeg, but is a constant inhabitant of the country surrounding Hudson Bay. There they hatch their young, from three to five in number, making their nests in the forks of some tall poplar-tree. They lay their eggs very early in the spring, and have hatched their young before other birds begin to nest. This account of their breeding differs from all other statements I have seen, and, if correct, is probably exceptional.

Although a bird of great vigilance, seldom permitting the hunter to get within range of shot, and equally careful in keeping at a distance from its foe in its flight, it is, Mr. Gunn states, readily deceived and decoyed within easy range by tying a bundle of dark rags to a piece of stout twine, and letting this drag from the end of the hunter’s snow-shoe. The hungry Owl pounces upon the bait, and the hunter turns and shoots it. These birds are sometimes quite fat, and are much prized for food by the Indians. At times they migrate from the more northern regions to the more inland districts. An instance of this took place in the winter of 1855–56. These birds made their appearance about the Red River Settlement in October, and before the latter end of December became very numerous, especially on the plains, where they were to be seen flying at any time of the day. In March all left that vicinity and disappeared. A few pass the summer near Lake Winnepeg, as occasional birds are seen there in the spring and fall. These migrations are supposed to be caused by unusual snow-falls and the scarcity of the animals on which they feed.

Mr. Dall found them rather rare in the valley of the Lower Yukon, and he has noticed them occasionally flying over the ice in the winter season.

Mr. Hutchins, in his manuscript observations on the birds of Hudson Bay Territory, speaking of this Owl as the _Wapacuthu_, states that it makes its nest in the moss on the dry ground, and lays from five to ten eggs in May. Professor Alfred Newton (Proc. Zoöl. Soc. 1861, p. 395) thinks there can be no doubt he refers to this Owl. Richardson states, as the result of his own inquiries, that it breeds on the ground, which the observations of Mr. Hearne confirm. Professor Lilljeborg (Naumannia, 1854, p. 78) found, June 3, 1843, on the Dovrefjeld, a nest of this species which contained seven eggs. It was placed on a little shelf, on the top of a bare mountain, far from the forest, and easy of access. Professor Nilsson was informed, on good authority, that in East Fiarmark the Snowy Owl is said by the Lapps to lay from eight to ten eggs in a little depression of the bare ground on the high mountains. Mr. John Wolley received similar information, and was told that the old birds sometimes attack persons that approach their nests. The 16th to the 24th of May is said to be the time when they usually breed. I received in 1860 an egg of this Owl from Herr Möschler. It had been taken near Okkak, a missionary station of the Moravians, in Labrador, and collected by the Esquimaux. The accounts given by these collectors confirm the statement that this bird always breeds on the ground in open places, and frequently lays quite a large number of eggs. This specimen measures 2.50 inches in length and 1.88 in breadth. It is oblong-oval in shape, equally rounded at either end, and of a dull soiled white. The egg is much discolored, apparently by its contact with the ground.

Mr. H. S. Hawkins (Ibis, 1870, p. 298) gives an account of the nest and eggs of this species, derived from a correspondent at one of the Moravian missionary stations on the coast of Labrador. The nest is said to consist of only a few feathers, and to be placed generally on a ledge of rocks where there is a slight hollow, sufficient to prevent the eggs from rolling out, but sometimes on the ground. The usual number of eggs is eight; these are not all laid and brooded at one time, but the first two are often hatched by the time the last is laid, so that you may find in one nest young birds, fresh eggs, and others more or less incubated.

Herr von Heuglin, in his Notes on the birds of Novaja Zemlia (Ibis, 1872, p. 61), mentions meeting with this Owl in Seal’s Bay, on Matthew’s Strait, in the Sea of Kara, where he found three nests with two young birds covered with down. The nest was formed of a shallow depression in the turf, without any lining. The food of the Snowy Owl, in Novaja Zemlia, during the summer time, consisted exclusively of a species of _Myodes_, which were very numerous. The down of the young is plain brownish-gray. They were easily tamed, and their comical gestures and vivacity are said to have been very amusing.

Captain C. F. Hall, the celebrated Arctic voyager, during one of his expeditions found a nest and four eggs of this species on the bare ground. These were packed up in an old moccasin, and sent, without emptying, to the Smithsonian Institution, where, after an interval of several months, they were successfully emptied, and are now among the choice treasures of the national museum.

GENUS SURNIA, DUMÉRIL.

_Surnia_, DUMÉRIL, Zoöl. Anal. 1806, 34. (Type, _Strix ulula_, LINN.)

GEN. CHAR. Size medium; form elongated, and general aspect hawk-like. No ear-tufts. Four outer quills with their inner webs sinuated, the third longest; tail nearly as long as the wing, graduated. Ear-conch small, simple, oval. Bill strong, yellow; eyes small, the iris yellow. Tarsi and toes thickly covered with soft dense feathers; tarsus shorter than the middle toe. Plumage much more compact, and less downy, and remiges and rectrices stiffer and straighter than in other Owls.

The single species of this genus belongs exclusively to the cold temperate and arctic zones of the Northern Hemisphere, and is circumpolar. Though somewhat hawk-like in its appearance, it is nevertheless a true Owl, and possesses no affinities of structure with the Hawks, any more than other species of _Strigidæ_.

Species and Races.

=S. ulula.= Above dark vandyke-brown, the head above dotted with white, and the scapulars spotted with the same. Beneath transversely barred with vandyke-brown and white, the bars regular, continuous, and sharply defined. Head and neck with two lateral, and one posterior medial, stripes of brownish-black, the space between them with white prevailing. Bill and iris yellow. Wing, about 9.00; tail, 6.80–7.00.

White spotting prevailing. _Hab._ Palæarctic Realm …

var. _ulula_.[31]

Brown spotting prevailing. _Hab._ Nearctic Realm …

var. _hudsonia_.

Surnia ulula, var. hudsonia (GMELIN).

AMERICAN HAWK OWL.

_Strix freti hudsonis_, BRISS. Orn. I, 520, 1760. _Strix hudsonia_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 295, 1789.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. l, f. 6, 1808.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 274, 1809.—VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 50. _Surnia hudsonia_, JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. I, 90, 1831. _Surnia ulula_, var. _hudsonica_, (RIDGWAY) COUES, Key, 1872, 205. _Strix canadensis_, BRISS. Orn. I, 518, pl. xxxvii, f. 2, 1789.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 273, 1809. _Strix funerea_ (not of LINNÆUS!), RICH. & SWAINS. F. B. A. II, 92, 1831.—AUD. Birds Am. pl. ccclxxviii, 1831; Orn. Biog. IV. 550.—BONAP. Ann. Lyc. N. York, II, 35.—BREWER (WILS.), Am. Orn. p. 686.—THOMPS. Hist. Vermont, p. 64.—PEAB. Birds Mass. III, 83. _Surnia ulula_ (not _ulula_ of LINN.!), CASS. Birds Calif. & Tex. p. 191, 1854.—Birds N. Am. 1858, 64.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 39, 1869.—BLACKIST. Ibis, III, 320.—LORD, Pr. R. A. I. IV, III (Brit. Columb.).—KAUP, Tr. Zoöl. Soc. IV, 1859, 214.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago Acad. I, II, 274.—MAYNARD, Birds Eastern Mass., 1870, 133.

SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Above rich dark vandyke-brown, darker anteriorly, less intense and more grayish on tail. A narrow streak of brownish-black originating over the middle of eye, and extending backward above the upper edge of the ear-coverts, where it forms an elbow passing downward in a broad stripe over the ends of the ear-coverts; confluent with this, at about the middle of the vertical stripe, is another of similar tint, which passes more broadly down the side of the nape; between the last stripes (those of opposite sides) is another or medial one of less pure black, extending from the occiput down the nape. Every feather of the forehead, crown, and occiput with a central ovate dot of white; those anterior more circular, on the occiput less numerous and more linear. Between the lateral and posterior nuchal stripes the white prevails, the brown forming irregular terminal and transverse or medial spots; these grow more linear toward the back. Interscapulars plain; posterior scapulars variegated with partially concealed large transverse spots of white, the lower feathers with nearly the whole outer webs white, their confluence causing a conspicuous elongated patch above the wing. Rump with sparse, irregular, but generally transverse, spots of white; upper tail-coverts with broader, more regular bars of the same, these about equal to the brown in width. Lower feathers of the middle and secondary wing-coverts each with an ovoid spot of white on the outer web; secondaries crossed by about three transverse series of longitudinally ovoid white spots (situated on the edge of the feather), and very narrowly tipped with the same; primary coverts with one or two less continuous transverse series of spots, these found only on the outer feathers; primaries with about seven transverse series of white spots, these obsolete except on the five outer feathers, on which those anterior to the emargination are most conspicuous; all the primaries are very narrowly bordered with white at the ends. Tail with seven or eight very narrow bands of white, those on the middle feathers purely so, becoming obsolete exteriorly; the last is terminal. Eyebrows, lores, and face grayish-white, the grayish appearance caused by the blackish shafts of the feathers; that of the face continues (contracting considerably) across the lower part of the throat, separating a large space of dark brown, which covers nearly the whole throat, from an indistinct collar of the same extending across the jugulum,—this collar uniting the lower ends of the auricular and cervical dusky bands, the space between which is nearly clear white. Ground-color of the lower parts white, but everywhere with numerous very regular transverse bars of deep brown, of a tint more reddish than the back, the brown bars rather more than half as wide as the white ones; across the upper part of the breast (beneath the dark gular collar) the white invades very much and reduces the brown, forming a broad lighter belt across the jugulum; below this the brown bars increase in width, their aggregation tending somewhat to a suffusion, giving the white jugular belt better definition. On the legs and toes the bars are narrower, more distant, and less regular.

The whole lining of the wing is barred just like the sides. The dark brown prevails on the under surface of the primaries, etc.; the former having transverse, irregular, elliptical spots of white, these touching neither the shaft nor the edge: on the longest quill are seven of these spots; on all they are anterior to the emargination.

♂ (49,808, Nulato, Alaska, April 21, 1867; W. H. Dall). Wing-formula, 3, 4–2–5–6–1. Wing, 9.00; tail, 7.00; culmen, .70; tarsus (of another specimen; wanting in the present), .90; middle toe, .82.

♀ (49,807, Nulato, April 20; W. H. Dall). Wing-formula, 3, 4–2–5–6–7=1. Wing, 9.00; tail, 6.80; culmen, .70; middle toe, .80.

HAB. Arctic America, south in winter into northern United States; Wisconsin (DR. HOY); Massachusetts (DR. BREWER; MAYNARD); Dakota and Montana (Mus. S. I.).

The Hawk Owl of North America is to be distinguished from that of Europe and Siberia by the same characters which distinguish the American Sparrow Owl from the European, namely, much darker shade of the brown and its greater prevalence. Three perfect specimens of the Old World bird (a pair from Lapland, and a specimen from Kamtschatka, Petropawloosk, W. H. Dall) agree in prevalence of the white over the head above, the confluence of the spots on the scapulars forming a larger, more conspicuous patch, and very broad and almost immaculate jugular belt; the brown bars beneath are very much narrower than in the American bird, and the tint is not different from that of the back. The legs and toes are scarcely variegated. While acknowledging the identity of the two representative forms, the differences are such as to entitle them to separation as races.

HABITS. The American form of the Hawk Owl inhabits the northern portions of both continents, and is common in the Arctic portions. On the Atlantic coast of this continent it has been found as far south as Philadelphia and the State of New Jersey, but its presence south of latitude 45° is probably only occasional and rather rare. The European form, according to Mr. Dresser, has not been known to exist in the British Islands, but several instances are quoted of the occurrence of the American form in Great Britain. One was taken off the coast of Cornwall in March, 1830; another was shot near Yatton, in Somersetshire, on a sunny afternoon in August, 1847; a third had previously been taken at Maryhill, near Glasgow, in December, 1863. On the Pacific coast it has not been taken farther south than Alaska, though it is quite probable it may yet be found to be an occasional visitant in Washington Territory and Oregon, and even the northern portions of California. It remains all the winter in high northern latitudes, and the instances of its having been taken even in Massachusetts, so far as is now known, are not many. Wilson only met with two specimens. Audubon and Nuttall never met with one of these birds alive.

Mr. Downes states that the Hawk Owl is very abundant in Nova Scotia in the winter time in some years, but may not be seen again for four or five seasons. It is common in Newfoundland, where it breeds in the Caribou districts. Mr. Downes often kept living specimens in confinement, which had been taken on board the Cunard steamers off the coast.