_Strix pratincola_, BONAP. List, 1838, p. 7.—DE KAY, Zoöl. N. Y. II,
1844, 31, pl. xiii. f. 28.—GRAY, Gen. B., fol. sp. 2.—CASSIN, B.
Cal. & Tex. 1854, p. 176.—NEWB. P. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 76.—HEERM.
do. VII, 1857, 34.—CASS. Birds N. Am. 1858, 47.—COUES, Prod. Orn.
Ariz. (P. A. N. S. Philad. 1866), 13.—SCL. P. Z. S. 1859, 390
(Oaxaca).—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 330 (Texas).—? BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc.
1867, 65 (Bahamas). _Strix perlata_, GRAY, List Birds Brit. Mus. 1848,
109 (not _S. perlata_ of LICHT. !).—IB. Hand List, I, 1869, 52.—KAUP,
Monog. Strig. Pr. Zoöl. Soc. Lond. IV, 1859, 247. _Strix americana_,
AUD. Synop. 1839, 24.—BREWER, Wilson’s Am. Orn. 1852, 687. _Strix
flammea_, MAX. Reise Bras. II, 1820, 265.—WILS. Am. Orn. 1808, pl. l,
f. 2.—JAMES, ed. Wilson’s Am. Orn. I, 1831, 111.—AUD. B. Am. 1831, pl.
clxxi.—IB. Orn. Biog. II, 1831, 403.—SPIX, Av. Bras. I, 21.—VIG. Zoöl.
Jour. III, 438.—IB. Zoöl. Beech. Voy. p. 16.—BONAP. Ann. N. Y. Lyc.
II, 38.—IB. Isis, 1832, 1140; Consp. Av. p. 55.—GRAY, List Birds Brit.
Mus. 1844, 54.—NUTT. Man. 1833, 139. _Ulula flammea_, JARDINE, ed.
Wilson’s Am. Orn. II, 1832, 264. _Strix flammea_, var. _americana_,
COUES, Key, 1872, 201.
CHAR. _Average plumage._ Ground-color of the upper parts bright
orange-ochraceous; this overlaid in cloudings, on nearly the whole
of the surface, with a delicate mottling of blackish and white; the
mottling continuous on the back and inner scapulars, and on the ends
of the primaries more faint, while along their edges it is more in the
form of fine dusky dots, thickly sprinkled. Each feather of the mottled
surface (excepting the secondaries and primaries) has a medial dash of
black, enclosing a roundish or cordate spot of white near the end of the
feather; on the secondaries and primaries, the mottling is condensed
into obsolete transverse bands, which are about four in number on the
former and five on the latter; primary coverts deeper orange-rufous
than the other portions, the mottling principally at their ends. Tail
orange-ochraceous, finely mottled—most densely terminally—with dusky,
fading into whitish at the tip, and crossed by about five distinct bands
of mottled dusky. Face white, tinged with wine-red; an ante-orbital spot
of dark claret-brown, this narrowly surrounding the eye; facial circle,
from forehead down to the ears (behind which it is white for an inch or
so) soft orange-ochraceous, similar to the ground-color of the upper
parts; the lower half (from ears across the throat) deeper ochraceous,
the tips of the feathers blackish, the latter sometimes predominating.
Lower parts snowy-white, but this more or less overlaid with a tinge
of fine orange-ochraceous, lighter than the tint of the upper parts;
and, excepting on the jugulum, anal region, and crissum, with numerous
minute but distinct specks of black; under surface of wings delicate
yellowish-white, the lining sparsely sprinkled with black dots; inner
webs of primaries with transverse bars of mottled dusky near their ends.
_Extreme plumages._ Darkest (No. 6,884, ♂, Tejon Valley, Cal.;
“R. S. W.” Dr. Heermann): There is no white whatever on the plumage, the
lower parts being continuous light ochraceous; the tibiæ have numerous
round spots of blackish. Lightest (No. 6,885, same locality): Face and
entire lower parts immaculate snowy-white; facial circle white, with the
tips of the feathers orange; the secondaries, primaries, and tail show
no bars, their surface being uniformly and finely mottled.
_Measurements_ (♂, 6,884, Tejon Valley, Cal.; Dr. Heermann). Wing,
13.00; tail, 5.70; culmen, .90; tarsus, 2.50; middle toe, 1.25.
Wing-formula, 2, 1–3. Among the very numerous specimens in the
collection, there is not one marked ♀. The extremes of a large series
are as follows: Wing, 12.50–14.00; tail, 5.70–7.50; culmen, .90–1.10;
tarsus, 2.55–3.00.
HAB. More southern portions of North America, especially near the
sea-coast, from the Middle States southward, and along the southern
border to California; whole of Mexico. In Central America appreciably
modified into var. _guatemalæ_. In South America replaced by var.
_perlata_, and in the West Indies by the quite different var. _furcata_.
Localities: Oaxaca (SCL. P. Z. S. 1859, 390); Texas (DRESSER, Ibis,
1865, 330); Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 49); ? Bahamas (BRYANT,
Pr. Bost. Soc. 1867, 65). Kansas (SNOW, List of B. Kansas); Iowa (ALLEN,
Iowa Geol. Report, II, 424).
[Illustration: =6885= ½ NAT. SIZE.
_Strix pratincola._]
The variations of plumage noted above appear to be of a purely
individual nature, since they do not depend upon the locality; nor, as
far as we can learn, to any considerable extent, upon age or sex.
HABITS. On the Atlantic coast this bird very rarely occurs north of
Pennsylvania. It is given by Mr. Lawrence as very rare in the vicinity
of New York, and in three instances, at least, it has been detected in
New England. An individual is said, by Rev. J. H. Linsley, to have been
taken in 1843, in Stratford, Conn.; another was shot at Sachem’s Head in
the same State, October 28, 1865; and a third was killed in May, 1868,
near Springfield, Mass.
In the vicinity of Philadelphia the Barn Owl is not very rare, but is
more common in spring and autumn than in the summer. Its nests have been
found in hollow trees near marshy meadows. Southward it is more or less
common as far as South Carolina, where it becomes more abundant, and its
range then extends south and west as far as the Pacific. It is quite
plentiful in Texas and New Mexico, and is one of the most abundant birds
of California. It was not met with by Dr. Woodhouse in the expedition
to the Zuñi River, but this may be attributed to the desolate character
of the country through which he passed, as it is chiefly found about
habitations, and is never met with in wooded or wild regions.
[Illustration: _Strix flammea._]
Dr. Heermann and Dr. Gambel, who visited California before the present
increase in population, speak of its favorite resort as being in the
neighborhood of the Missions, and of its nesting under the tiled roofs
of the houses. The latter also refers to his finding numbers under
one roof, and states that they showed no fear when approached. The
propensity of the California bird to drink the sacred oil from the
consecrated lamps about the altars of the Missions was frequently
referred to by the priests, whenever any allusion was made to this Owl.
Dr. Gambel also found it about farm-houses, and occasionally in the
prairie valleys, where it obtains an abundance of food, such as mice and
other small animals.
Dr. Heermann, in a subsequent visit to the State, mentions it as being
a very common bird in all parts of California. They were once quite
numerous among the hollow trees in the vicinity of Sacramento, but have
gradually disappeared, as their old haunts were one by one destroyed
to make way for the gradual development and growth of that city. Dr.
Heermann found a large number in the winter, sheltered during the day
among the reeds of Suisun Valley. They were still abundant in the old
Catholic Missions, where they frequented the ruined walls and towers,
and constructed their nests in the crevices and nooks of those once
stately buildings, now falling to decay. These ruins were also a shelter
for innumerable bats, reptiles, and vermin, which formed an additional
attraction to the Owls.
Dr. Cooper speaks of finding this Owl abundant throughout Southern
California, especially near the coast, and Dr. Newberry frequently met
with it about San Francisco, San Diego, and Monterey, where it was
more common than any other species. He met with it on San Pablo Bay,
inhabiting holes in the perpendicular cliffs bordering the south shore.
It was also found in the Klamath Basin, but not in great numbers.
Mr. J. H. Clark found the Barn Owl nesting, in May, in holes burrowed
into the bluff banks of the Rio Frio, in Texas. These burrows were
nearly horizontal, with a considerable excavation near the back end,
where the eggs were deposited. These were three or four in number,
and of a dirty white. The parent bird allowed the eggs to be handled
without manifesting any concern. There was no lining or nest whatever.
Lieutenant Couch found them common on the Lower Rio Grande, but rare
near Monterey, Mexico. They were frequently met with living in the sides
of large deep wells.
Dr. Coues speaks of it as a common resident species in Arizona. It was
one of the most abundant Owls of the Territory, and was not unfrequently
to be observed at midday. On one occasion he found it preying upon
Blackbirds, in the middle of a small open reed swamp.
It is not uncommon in the vicinity of Washington, and after the partial
destruction of the Smithsonian Building by fire, for one or two years
a pair nested in the top of the tower. It is quite probable that the
comparative rarity of the species in the Eastern States is owing to
their thoughtless destruction, the result of a short-sighted and
mistaken prejudice that drives away one of our most useful birds, and
one which rarely does any mischief among domesticated birds, but is, on
the contrary, most destructive to rats, mice, and other mischievous and
injurious vermin.
Mr. Audubon mentions two of these birds which had been kept in
confinement in Charleston, S. C., where their cries in the night never
failed to attract others of the species. He regards them as altogether
crepuscular in habits, and states that when disturbed in broad daylight
they always fly in an irregular and bewildered manner. Mr. Audubon
also states that so far as his observations go, they feed entirely on
small quadrupeds, as he has never found the remains of any feathers or
portions of birds in their stomachs or about their nests. In confinement
it partakes freely of any kind of flesh.
The Cuban race (var. _furcata_), also found in other West India islands,
is hardly distinguishable from our own bird, and its habits may be
presumed to be essentially the same. Mr. Gosse found the breeding-place
of the Jamaica Owl at the bottom of a deep limestone pit, in the middle
of October; there was one young bird with several eggs. There was not
the least vestige of a nest; the bird reposed on a mass of half-digested
hair mingled with bones. At a little distance were three eggs, at
least six inches apart. On the 12th of the next month he found in the
same place the old bird sitting on four eggs, this time placed close
together. There was still no nest. The eggs were advanced towards
hatching, but in very different degrees, and an egg ready for deposition
was found in the oviduct of the old bird.
An egg of this Owl, taken in Louisiana by Dr. Trudeau, measured 1.69
inches in length by 1.38 in breadth. Another, obtained in New Mexico,
measures 1.69 by 1.25. Its color is a dirty yellowish-white, its shape
an oblong oval, hardly more pointed at the smaller than at the larger
end.
An egg from Monterey, California, collected by Dr. Canfield, measures
1.70 inches in length by 1.25 in breadth, of an oblong-oval shape, and
nearly equally obtuse at either end. It is of a uniform bluish-white.
Another from the Rio Grande is of a soiled or yellowish white, and of
the same size and shape.