The SPARROW-HAWK OWL (_Surnia Ulula_, _Surnia funerea_, or _Surnia
nisoria_), often called the Falcon Owl, on account of some slight
resemblance to that family, is one of the best known members of this
group, and is distinguished from its congeners by its broad flat head,
and small face, which is without the circle of feathers around the region
of the eye, possessed by most of the species; its wings are slender and
pointed, its tail long and conical. The beak is short, powerful, higher
than it is broad, and curves downwards from its base; the hook in which
the upper mandible terminates, overlaps the lower one; the margins of
both are slightly incised, and the latter has a deep notch at its tip.
The tarsi are completely covered with feathers, and the toes armed with
short and very sharp claws; the eyes and apertures of the ears are large.
The plumage, which is rich, soft, and glossy, is much thicker than that
of the majority of Night Owls; the feathers on the sides of the head
are held erect, and thus make the face appear fully to equal the body
in breadth. The outer web of the anterior quills is denticulated like a
saw, while the inner one is of velvety softness. The cry of this species
resembles that of the Kestrel; when angry it snaps with the beak, after
the manner of other Owls, but, unlike most of the members of the family,
its eyes are kept open in the day-time, and it rather seeks than avoids
a strong light. The face of the adult male is whitish grey, and marked
with two black streaks, one before and one behind the ear, forming a sort
of crescent. The top of the head is brownish black, each of the feathers
in that region being tipped with a round white spot, which increases in
size towards the back of the neck; the nape and a spot behind the ear
are pure white; the feathers upon the back are white, edged and striped
with brown. The breast, sides, and belly are white, marked with blackish
brown; the throat is white, traversed by a dark stripe; the quills and
tail-feathers are mouse grey, and for the most part streaked with white.
The beak is dingy yellow, tipped with black, and the eyes of a beautiful
brimstone yellow. Considerable deviations from this coloration are of
frequent occurrence, but the young closely resemble their parents. The
length of this species is from fifteen to sixteen, and its breadth from
twenty-nine to thirty-one inches; the wing measures nine and the tail
seven inches.
The Sparrow-hawk Owls are met with extensively throughout all the
countries of the extreme north, and frequently visit the central portions
of the American and European continents. Birch, fir, and pine forests
afford them the retreats they prefer, and where these are found they
will often ascend to a considerable height in mountain ranges. Wallengen
tells us that their eyries are built upon fir and pine trees, and are
formed of leaves and twigs, intermixed with dry moss; and that the six
or seven round white eggs that constitute a brood are laid early in the
spring. Some naturalists are of opinion that they lay but two eggs. We
learn from Richardson that large numbers of these birds are killed by the
fur hunters, and that they subsist principally upon insects and mice;
they also devour Ptarmigans, and when in pursuit of the latter are so
bold that, at the sound of the sportsman's gun, they congregate around
him in the hope of securing his birds as they fall; they catch mice by
waiting quietly seated near their holes until they come out, and never
seize them whilst on the wing. They appear to have no fear of man, and
are constantly seen around the watch-fires made by the hunters in their
encampments. Such Sparrow-hawk Owls as visit Central Europe arrive about
March, and depart early in the autumn; here as elsewhere they subsist
principally upon mice, and frequent forests and woodland districts. The
flight of this bird, unlike that of most Owls, is rapid and easy, but
upon the ground it hops somewhat clumsily.