Our barn owl belongs to the tropical and warm temperate genus _Strix_,
which is scattered widely over the greater part of the earth in the
tropical and subtropical parts of both hemispheres, and scatteringly
into the temperate zones. In Europe one species is common as far
north as the British Isles, while our own bird is found as far north
as southern New England in the East, Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin,
and southern Minnesota in the interior, and Oregon and Washington on
the Pacific coast. It is hardly common anywhere except in the extreme
southwestern part of the United States, where it is the most abundant
owl in California. It is rare or casual north of about the fortieth
parallel. But two specimens have been brought to the Oberlin College
Museum in twenty years, one of which was found dead in a barn a mile
east of Oberlin in December of 1898.
The barn owl is the most nocturnal of all our owls, although he can
see perfectly in the brightest day. Not until twilight does he issue
from his secure hiding-place to do battle with the farm and orchard
pests. Then he may be seen sailing noiselessly over orchard and
meadow in quest of any mischievous rodent that may be menacing the
farmer's prospects. He seems to single out intelligently the ones
that do the most injury, destroying large numbers of pouched gophers
and other annoying and destructive creatures, asking only in return
to be left in peace in his hiding-place. The farmer certainly has
no better friend than this owl, for he destroys poultry only when
driven to it by the direst necessity. In the East, his food consists
largely of rats and mice; in some parts of the South the cotton rat
is the chief diet; while in the West he feeds principally upon the
gopher (_Thomomys talpoides bulbivorus_) and the California ground
squirrel (_Spermophilus grammurus beecheyi_), according to Prof. B. W.
Evermann. It seems pretty certain that fish are sometimes captured and
eaten.
This owl undoubtedly breeds, though sparingly, in all suitable
localities wherever it is found, and probably migrates more or less
in the northern part of its range. In Europe it nests in old ruins,
towers, and abutments of bridges, but our American species finds few
such places, so he resorts to hollow trees, caves, crevices in rocks,
and banks, and even to burrows in the level ground, as we find to be
the case in parts of the West. The burrows are undoubtedly the deserted
burrows of some other animal. In the eastern parts of the country
the owls frequently nest in buildings. It is well known that a pair
occupied one of the towers of the Smithsonian building in the city of
Washington in 1890, raising a brood of seven young. It is stated that
the period of incubation is from three to three and a half weeks, and
that brooding begins with the deposit of the first egg; thus there may
be fresh eggs and young in the same nest. This accounts for the long
period of incubation.
The eggs are pure white, usually from four to seven in number, rarely
twelve. They are rather longer in proportion than those of the other
owls--in about the proportion of 1.30 × 1.70. But the average size is
variously given by the various authors.
It seems a little curious that there should be such a marked difference
between the hawks and owls as regards nest material. They belong to
the same order of birds, and yet the hawks build their own nests,
collecting the material and arranging it much after the fashion of
higher birds, while the owls make practically no nest, at the most
collecting a little material and scattering it about with little
regard for arrangement. But the difficulty disappears when we realize
that the owls have probably always nested in hollows which require
no nest material, while the hawks, if they ever nested in hollows,
have long ceased to do so, building their nests among the branches of
trees, where a relatively large amount of material is necessary. The
few species of hawks which now nest in hollows have gone back to that
method after a long period of open nesting and have retained the nest
material even here where it seems unnecessary.
The monkey-like appearance of this owl, emphasized by his tawny color
and screeching voice, gives him a decidedly uncanny appearance. His
plumage is unusually soft and fluffy, but is too thin to enable him
to withstand the rigors of a northern winter. Curiously enough, the
feathers on the back of his tarsus grow up instead of down, giving that
part of his plumage a rather ungroomed appearance. One edge of his
middle toe-nail is toothed like a comb.
During the nesting season only a single pair can be found in a place,
but at other times the species is more or less gregarious in the
regions in which it is numerous. Often a dozen individuals may be
found in a company. The extreme seclusiveness of the birds during the
day makes it very difficult to find them, and they are undoubtedly
more numerous than generally reported, and are likely to be present
in many places where their presence is not now suspected. They seek
the darkest and most secluded corner possible and remain quiet all
day. Their noiseless flight might easily be mistaken for that of the
whippoorwill. Let us hope that the good qualities of this owl will be
fully recognized before his hiding-place is discovered.