Size, large; general form, very robust and strong; head, large, with
prominent ear-tufts; eyes, very large; wings, long, wide; tail,
moderate; tarsi short, and with the toes densely feathered; claws, very
strong, curved; bill, rather short, curved from the base, strong,
covered at base by projecting plumes. This genus contains the large
horned Owls of which there are about fifteen species, the greater part
being peculiar to Asia and Africa.
1. Bubo virginianus. (Gmelin.) The great horned Owl. The Cat Owl.
Strix virginiana. Gm. Syst. Nat. I. p. 287. (1788.)
Strix pythaules. Bartram Trav. p. 289. (1791.)
Bubo ludovicianus. Daudin Traité d’Orn. II. p. 210. (1800.)
Bubo pinicola. Vieill. Ois. d’Am., Sept., I. p. 51. (1807.)
Edward’s Birds, II. pl. 60. Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept., I. pl. 19.
Wilson, Am. Orn., VI. pl. 50. fig. 1. Aud., B. of Am., pl. 61, Oct.
ed., I. pl. 39. Nat. Hist. N. Y., pl. 10, fig. 22.
Large, adult, entire plumage above, dark-brown, every feather mottled,
and with irregular lines of ashy-white and reddish fulvous, the latter
being the color of all the plumage at the bases of the feathers.
Ear-tufts, dark-brown, nearly black, edged on their inner webs with
dark fulvous, a black spot above and extending somewhat in front of
the eye, radiating feathers behind the eye, dark reddish fulvous,
feathers of the facial disc tipped with black; throat and neck before,
white; breast, with wide longitudinal stripes of black; other under
parts finely variegated with white and fulvous, and every feather
having transverse narrow lines of dark-brown. In many specimens, the
middle of the abdomen is pure white; legs and toes light fulvous,
generally unspotted, but in some specimens, with transverse narrow
bars of dark-brown; quills, brown, with wide transverse bands of
cinereous, tinged on the inner webs with pale fulvous; tail, the same,
with the pale fulvous predominating in the outer feathers; iris,
yellow; bill and claws, dark.
The colors of the plumage, and the size also, in this species, vary
materially. There may be distinguished the following varieties, which
appear to be permanent in individual specimens, and are to some extent
geographical. Though at present, with a large number of specimens before
us, we are of opinion that they are all of one species, it may be that
they are distinct:
Variety, _atlanticus_.
The common species as just described. Feathers of the face behind the
eye, always bright reddish fulvous, and the entire plumage more marked
with that color than in the others, as below. This variety inhabits
the eastern and northern portion of North America.
Variety, _pacificus_.
Feathers of the face, behind the eye, ashy, generally faintly tinged
with fulvous. General plumage with the fulvous color paler than the
preceding.
This variety appears to be restricted to the west, and nearly all the
specimens that we have seen are of a smaller size than it is usual to
find in the eastern bird, though we have seen specimens of the latter
which were not larger.
Variety, _arcticus_.
Bubo arcticus. Swainson, Faun. Bor. Am. Birds, p. 86, pl. 30.
(1831.)
Bubo sub-arcticus. Hoy, Proc. Acad., Philada., VI. p. 211. (Dec.
1852.)?
Bubo septentrionalis. Brohm., Vog. Deutschl., p. 120. (1831.)?
Strix scandiaca. Linn., Syst. Nat., I. p. 132. (1766.)?
Feathers of the face, pure white, or very pale cream color. General
plumage, of a predominating pale yellowish-white, or cream color, of
various shades in different specimens, sometimes nearly pure white,
especially on the under parts, and always marked with brown,
frequently very pale and indistinct, in the same general manner as in
characteristic specimens of _B. virginianus_, var., _atlanticus_, but
with the lines and stripes much less numerous and paler; tarsi and
toes, nearly pure white. Size, in some specimens, quite as large as in
the common variety, and the plumage with more on less of the same
reddish fulvous at the bases of the feathers.
Of the specimens of this bird that we have seen, one is Dr. Hoy’s
original, and another was brought from California, by Mr. Bell. The
latter is the smaller, and is probably a male. Dr. Hoy’s specimen,
which appears to be a large female, has the upper mandible with a more
prominent lobe than is usual in specimens of this species.
Variety, _magellanicus_.
Strix magellanicus. Gm., Syst. Nat., I. p. 286. (1788.) Buff. Pl.
Enl., I. pl. 385.
Strix nacurutu. Vieill., Nouv. Dict., VII. p. 44. (1817.)
Bubo ludovicianus. Daudin, Traité d’Orn, II. p. 210?
Very similar to the common bird of eastern North America, and has all
the plumage at base fulvous, very variable in color, frequently
lighter than the common variety, but sometimes very dark; plumage
behind the eyes, generally pale cinereous, but in some specimens more
or less tinged with fulvous.
This variety inhabits, apparently, the whole of South America, and,
probably, also southern North America.
Dimensions. _Female._—Total length, 22 to 25 inches; wing 15 to 16;
tail, 10 inches. _Male_, total length, 19 to 21 inches; wing, 14 to
15; tail, 9 inches. The western and southern varieties producing
smaller specimens than the eastern and northern.
Hab. The whole of North America, western South America; Hudson’s Bay
(Richardson); Canada (Dr. Hall); Wisconsin (Dr. Hoy); Washington
territory (Dr. Cooper); Minnesota (Mr. Pratten); Vermont (Mr.
Thompson); Oregon (Dr. Townsend); California (Dr. Heermann); Texas
(Mr. Schott); Indian territory (Dr. Woodhouse); Mexico (Lieut. Couch).
Breeds in Pennsylvania and northward. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. With numerous specimens before us from various parts of America, we
are unable to recognise any differences sufficient to establish specific
distinctions, and we have therefore provisionally designated the above
four varieties. All of them vary considerably in shade of color in
different specimens.
This is the largest owl of North America, except one, the Great
Cinereous Owl (_Syrnium cinereum_) and, like several other species of
large birds, retreats before the progress of the settlement of the
country. Formerly abundant, it is now comparatively rare in the more
thickly populated states, and appears almost entirely as a wanderer in
winter.
Specimens are not frequently seen so dark nor so large as represented in
Mr. Audubon’s plate.