Size usually large; head large, without ear-tufts; facial disc nearly
perfect; bill rather strong, wide at base, curved from its base; wings
long, somewhat rounded, fourth and fifth quills longest; tail long,
wide, rounded; legs moderately long, robust; tarsi and toes densely
covered with short feathers; claws long, curved, very sharp. A genus
containing fifteen to twenty species of various parts of the world,
principally northern.
1. Syrnium cinereum. (Gm.) The Great Gray Owl. The Cinereous Owl.
Strix cinerea. Gmelin, Syst. Nat., I. p. 291. (1788.)
Strix lapponica. Retzius, Faun. Suec., p. 79. (1800.)
Strix fuliginosa. Shaw, Gen. Zool., VII. p. 244. (1809.)
Strix barbata. Pallas, Zool. Ross., I. p. 318. (1811.)
Strix acclamator. Bartram, Trav., p. 289. (1790.)?
Fauna., Bor. Am. Birds, pl. 31. Aud., B. of Am., pl. 351: Oct. ed., I.
pl. 35. Nat. Hist. N. Y. Birds, pl. 13, fig. 29. Pallas, Zool. Ross.,
Birds, pl. 2. Gould, B. of Europe, I. pl. 42.
Large; head very large; eyes small; tail long. Adult. Entire upper
parts smoky-brown, nearly every feather more or less mottled and
transversely barred with ashy-white; under parts smoky-brown; feathers
on the breast edged with ashy-white, and on the abdomen edged and
transversely barred with ashy-white, in some specimens all the
feathers are ashy-white, with wide longitudinal stripes of
smoky-brown; legs brown, with numerous ashy-white transverse stripes;
quills brown, with about five wide irregular transverse bands of
ashy-white, in some specimens tinged with reddish-yellow, these bands
mottled with brown; tail brown, with about five wide irregular bands
of ashy-white, which bands are mottled with brown; throat black;
discal feathers on the neck tipped with yellowish-white; eye nearly
encircled by a black spot; radiating feathers around the eye with
regular transverse narrow bars of dark brown and ashy-white; bill pale
yellow; claws pale, dark at their tips. Sexes alike.
Dimensions. _Female?_—Total length, 26 inches; wing, 18; tail, 12
inches.
Hab. Northern North America. Northern Europe and Asia. Breeds in the
vicinity of Montreal, Canada (Dr. Hall); Wisconsin (Dr. Hoy); Oregon
(Dr. Townsend); Vermont (Mr. Thompson). Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. This is the largest known species of the Owls which inhabit North
America, and is restricted on the Atlantic to the Northern States. In
Western America its range is not known, but it was brought from Oregon
by Dr. Townsend. In the valuable “Sketch of the Zoology of the vicinity
of Montreal, Canada,” by Archibald Hall, M. D., the manuscript of which
has been kindly and most opportunely placed in our hands by that
gentleman, it is stated that this fine bird is a resident species in
that district.
2. Syrnium nebulosum. (Forster.) The barred Owl.
Strix nebulosa. Forster. Trans. Philos. Soc., London, LXII. p.
386, 424. (1772.)
“Strix varius. Bartram, MSS.” Barton, Frag. Nat. Hist. Penna, p.
11. (1799.)
Strix chichictli. Gm., Syst. Nat., I. p. 296. (1788.)?
Strix fernandica. Shaw, Gen. Zool., VII. p. 263. (1809.)?
Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept., pl. 17. Wilson, Am. Orn., IV. pl. 33, fig.
2. Aud., B. of Am., pl. 46; Oct. ed., I. pl. 36. Nat. Hist. N. Y.
Birds, pl. 10, fig. 21. Gould. B. of Europe, I. pl. 46.
Smaller than the preceding; head large; tail moderate or rather long.
Adult. Entire plumage above light ashy-brown, in some specimens with a
tinge of fulvous, every feather with transverse narrow bands of white,
wider on the back and most numerous on the head and hind part of the
neck; plumage of the breast with transverse bands of brown and of
white; flanks and abdomen ashy-white, every feather with a
longitudinal central stripe of brown; tarsi and toes ashy-white,
tinged with fulvous, frequently unspotted, but in some specimens
mottled and transversely striped with dark brown; quills brown, with
about six or seven transverse bars nearly pure white on the outer
webs, and on the inner ashy fulvous; tail light brown, with about five
transverse bars of white, generally tinged with reddish-yellow; a
black spot in front of the eye; discal feathers tipped with white, and
finely barred with black, radiating feathers around the eye
ashy-white, with stripes of brown behind the eye; throat dark brown;
bill pale yellow; claws horn-color; irides bluish-black. Sexes alike.
Dimensions. _Female._—About 20 inches; wing, 13½; tail, 9 inches.
_Male._—Smaller.
Hab. The whole of North America. Accidental in Northern Europe. Canada
(Dr. Hall); Minnesota (Mr. Pratten); Texas, New Mexico (Dr.
Woodhouse); South Carolina (Prof. Gibbes); Florida (Mr. Audubon).
Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.
Obs. A species frequently met with in nearly all parts of the United
States, especially in the winter. Occasionally we have seen specimens in
the woods, that showed no signs of alarm whatever on being approached,
and apparently not at all familiar with man nor with the sound of the
gun. During some winters it is abundant in Pennsylvania, probably having
migrated from farther north. When wounded, this species seeks safety by
hopping away quite awkwardly, showing nothing of the courage of the
Great Horned Owl, or even of the comparatively small long-cared species
(_Otus Wilsonianus_), both of which will stand up manfully and defend
themselves to the best of their ability, while life lasts.