_? Strix peregrinator_ (_?_), BART. Trav. 1792, p. 285.—CASS. B. Cal.
& Tex. 1854, 196. _Asio peregrinator_, STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 1855,
207. _Otus wilsonianus_, LESS. Tr. Orn. 1831, 110.—GRAY, Gen. fol. sp.
2, 1844.—IB. List Birds Brit. Mus. p. 105.—CASS. Birds Cal. & Tex.
1854, 81.—IB. Birds N. Am. 1858, 53.—COOP. & SUCK. 1860, 155.—COUES,
Prod. 1866, 14. _Otus americanus_, BONAP. List, 1838, p. 7.—IB. Consp.
p. 50.—WEDERB. & TRISTR. Cont. Orn. 1849, p. 81.—KAUP, Monog. Strig.
Cont. Orn. 1852, 113.—IB. Trans. Zoöl. Soc. IV, 1859, 233.—MAX. Cab.
Jour. VI, 1858, 25.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 1869, No. 540, p. 50. _Strix
otus_, WILS. Am. Orn. 1808, pl. li, f. 1.—RICH. & SW. F. B. A. II,
72.—BONAP. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. II, 37.—IB. Isis, 1832, 1140.—AUD. Orn.
Biog. IV, 572.—IB. Birds Am. pl. ccclxxxiii.—PEAB. Birds, Mass. 88.
_Ulula otus_, JARD. ed. Wils. Am. Orn. I, 1831, 104.—BREWER, ed.
Wils. Am. Orn. Synop. p. 687.—NUTT. Man. 130. _Otus vulgaris_ (not
of Fleming!), JARDINE, ed. Wils. Am. Orn. 1832, II, 278.—AUD. Synop.
1831, 28.—GIRAUD, Birds Long Island, p. 25. _Otus vulgaris_, var.
_wilsonianus_ (RIDGWAY), COUES, Key, 1872, 204. _Bubo asio_, DE KAY,
Zoöl. N. Y. II, 25, pl. xii, f. 25.
SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Upper surface transversely mottled with
blackish-brown and grayish-white, the former predominating, especially
on the dorsal region; feathers of the nape and wings (only), ochraceous
beneath the surface, lower scapulars with a few obsolete spots of white
on lower webs. Primary coverts dusky, with transverse series of dark
mottled grayish spots, these becoming somewhat ochraceous basally;
ground-color of the primaries grayish, this especially prevalent on the
inner quills; the basal third (or less) of all are ochraceous, this
decreasing in extent on inner feathers; the grayish tint is everywhere
finely mottled transversely with dusky, but the ochraceous is plain;
primaries crossed by a series of about seven quadrate blackish-brown
spots, these anteriorly about as wide as the intervening yellowish or
mottled grayish; the interval between the primary coverts to the first
of these spots is about .80 to 1.00 inch on the fourth quill,—the
spots on the inner and outer feathers approaching the coverts, or even
underlying them; the inner primaries—or, in fact, the general exposed
grayish surface—has much narrower bars of dusky. Ground-color of the
wings like the back, this growing paler on the outer feathers, and
becoming ochraceous basally; the tip approaching whitish; secondaries
crossed by nine or ten narrow bands of dusky.
Ear-tufts, with the lateral portion of each web, ochraceous; this
becoming white, somewhat variegated with black, toward the end
of the inner webs, on which the ochraceous is broadest; medial
portion clear, unvariegated black. Forehead and post-auricular disk
minutely speckled with blackish and white; facial circle continuous
brownish-black, becoming broken into a variegated collar across the
throat. “Eyebrows” and lores grayish-white; eye surrounded with
blackish, this broadest anteriorly above and below, the posterior half
being like the ear-coverts. Face plain ochraceous; chin and upper part
of the throat immaculate white. Ground-color below pale ochraceous,
the exposed surface of the feathers, however, white; breast with
broad longitudinal blotches of clear dark brown, these medial, on the
feathers; sides and flanks, each feather with a medial stripe, crossed
by as broad, or broader, transverse bars, of blackish-brown; abdomen,
tibial plumes, and legs plain ochraceous, becoming nearly white on the
lower part of tarsus and on the toes; tibial plumes with a few sagittate
marks of brownish; lower tail-coverts each having a medial sagittate
mark of dusky, this continuing along the shaft, forking toward the
base. Lining of the wing plain pale ochraceous; inner primary coverts
blackish-brown, forming a conspicuous spot.
[Illustration: =38256= ½ ½
_Otus wilsonianus._]
♂ (51,227, Carlisle, Penn.; S. F. Baird). Wing formula, 2, 3–1, 4, etc.
Wing, 11.50; tail, 6.20; culmen, .65; tarsus, 1.20; middle toe, 1.15.
♀ (2,362, Professor Baird’s collection, Carlisle, Penn.). Wing formula,
2, 3–4–1. Wing, 12.00; tail, 6.00; culmen, .65; tarsus, 1.25; middle
toe, 1.15.
_Young_ (49,568, Sacramento, Cal., June 21, 1867; Clarence King, Robert
Ridgway). Wings and tail as in the adult; other portions transversely
banded with blackish-brown and grayish-white, the latter prevailing
anteriorly; eyebrows and loral bristles entirely black; legs white.
HAB. Whole of temperate North America? Tobago? (JARDINE).
Localities: Tobago (JARDINE, Ann. Mag. 18, 116); Arizona (COUES,
P. A. N. S. 1866, 50).
The American Long-eared Owl is quite different in coloration from the
_Otus vulgaris_ of Europe. In the latter, ochraceous prevails over the
whole surface, even above, where the transverse dusky mottling does
not approach the uniformity that it does in the American bird; in the
European bird, each feather above has a conspicuous medial longitudinal
stripe of dark brownish: these markings are found everywhere except
on the rump and upper tail-coverts, where the ochraceous is deepest,
and transversely clouded with dusky mottling; in the American bird, no
longitudinal stripes are visible on the upper surface. The ochraceous
of the lower surface is, in the _vulgaris_, varied only (to any
considerable degree) by the sharply defined medial longitudinal stripes
to the feathers, the transverse bars being few and inconspicuous; in
_wilsonianus_, white overlies the ochraceous below, and the longitudinal
are less conspicuous than the transverse markings; the former on the
breast are broader than in _vulgaris_, in which, also, the ochraceous
at the bases of the primaries occupies a greater extent. Comparing
these very appreciable differences with the close resemblance of other
representative styles of the two continents (differences founded on
shade or depth of tints alone), we were almost inclined to recognize in
the American Long-eared Owl a specific value to these discrepancies.
[Illustration: _Otus vulgaris._]
The _Otus stygius_, Wagl., of South America and Mexico, is entirely
distinct, as will be seen from the foregoing synoptical table.
HABITS. This species appears to be one of the most numerous of the
Owls of North America, and to be pretty generally distributed. Its
strictly nocturnal habits have caused it to be temporarily overlooked in
localities where it is now known to be present and not rare. Dr. William
Gambel and Dr. Heermann both omit it from their lists of the birds of
California, though Dr. J. G. Cooper has since found it quite common. It
was once supposed not to breed farther south than New Jersey, but it
is now known to be resident in South Carolina and in Arizona, and is
probably distributed through all the intervening country. Donald Gunn
writes that to his knowledge this solitary bird hunts in the night, both
summer and winter, in the Red River region. It there takes possession of
the deserted nests of crows, and lays four white eggs. He found it as
far as the shores of Hudson’s Bay. Richardson states it to be plentiful
in the woods skirting the plains of the Saskatchewan, frequenting the
coast of the bay in the summer, and retiring into the interior in the
winter. He met with it as high as the 16th parallel of latitude, and
believed it to occur as far as the forests extend.
Dr. Cooper met with this species on the banks of the Columbia, east of
the Dalles. The region was desolate and barren, and several species
of Owls appeared to have been drawn there by the abundance of hares
and mice. Dr. Suckley also met with it on a branch of Milk River, in
Nebraska. It has likewise been taken in different parts of California,
in New Mexico, among the Rocky Mountains, in the valley of the Rio
Grande, at Fort Benton, and at Cape Florida, in the last-named place by
Mr. Würdemann.
Dr. Cooper found this Owl quite common near San Diego, and in March
observed them sitting in pairs in the evergreen oaks, apparently not
much troubled by the light. On the 27th of March he found a nest,
probably that of a Crow, built in a low evergreen oak, in which a female
Owl was sitting on five eggs, then partly hatched. The bird was quite
bold, flew round him, snapping her bill at him, and tried to draw him
away from the nest; the female imitating the cries of wounded birds with
remarkable accuracy, showing a power of voice not supposed to exist in
Owls, but more in the manner of a Parrot. He took one of the eggs, and
on the 23d of April, on revisiting the nest, he found that the others
had hatched. The egg measured 1.60 by 1.36 inches. Dr. Cooper also
states that he has found this Owl wandering into the barren treeless
deserts east of the Sierra Nevada, where it was frequently to be met
with in the autumn, hiding in the thickets along the streams. It also
resorts to caves, where any are to be found.
Dr. Kennerly met with this bird in the cañons west of the Aztec
Mountains, where they find good places for their nests, which
they build, in common with Crows and Hawks, among the precipitous
cliffs,—places unapproachable by the wolf and lynx.
On the Atlantic coast the Long-eared Owl occurs in more or less
abundance from Nova Scotia to Florida. It is found in the vicinity of
Halifax, according to Mr. Downes, and about Calais according to Mr.
Boardman, though not abundantly in either region. In Western Maine, and
in the rest of New England, it is more common. It has been known to
breed at least as far south as Maryland, Mr. W. M. McLean finding it in
Rockville. Mr. C. N. Holden, Jr., during his residence at Sherman, in
Wyoming Territory, met with a single specimen of this bird. A number of
Magpies were in the same bush, but did not seem either to molest or to
be afraid of it.
The food of this bird consists chiefly of small quadrupeds, insects,
and, to some extent, of small birds of various kinds. Audubon mentions
finding the stomach of one stuffed with feathers, hair, and bones.
The Long-eared Owl appears to nest for the most part in trees, and also
frequently to make use of the nests of other birds, such as Crows,
Hawks, or Herons. Occasionally, however, they construct nests for
themselves. Audubon speaks of finding such a one near the Juniata
River, in Pennsylvania. This was composed of green twigs with the
leaflets adhering, and lined with fresh grass and sheep’s wool, but
without feathers. Mr. Kennicott sent me from Illinois an egg of this
bird, that had been taken from a nest on the ground; and, according
to Richardson, in the fur regions it sometimes lays its eggs in that
manner, at other times in the deserted nests of other birds, on low
bushes. Mr. Hutchins speaks of its depositing them as early as April.
Richardson received one found in May; and another nest was observed, in
the same neighborhood, which contained three eggs on the 5th of July.
Wilson speaks of this Owl as having been abundant in his day in the
vicinity of Philadelphia, and of six or seven having been found in a
single tree. He also mentions it as there breeding among the branches of
tall trees, and in one particular instance as having taken possession
of the nest of a Qua Bird (_Nyctiardea gardeni_), where Wilson found it
sitting on four eggs, while one of the Herons had her own nest on the
same tree. Audubon states that it usually accommodates itself by making
use of the abandoned nests of other birds, whether these are built high
or low. It also makes use of the fissures of rocks, or builds on the
ground.
As this Owl is known to breed early in April, and as numerous instances
are given of their eggs being taken in July, it is probable they have
two broods in a season. Mr. J. S. Brandigee, of Berlin, Conn., found
a nest early in April, in a hemlock-tree, situated in a thick dark
evergreen woods. The nest was flat, made of coarse sticks, and contained
four fresh eggs when the parent was shot.
Mr. Ridgway found this Owl to be very abundant in the Sacramento Valley,
as well as throughout the Great Basin, in both regions inhabiting dense
willow copses near the streams. In the interior it generally lays its
eggs in the deserted nests of the Magpie.
The eggs of this Owl, when fresh, are of a brilliant white color, with a
slight pinkish tinge, which they preserve even after having been blown,
if kept from the light. They are of a rounded-oval shape, and obtuse
at either end. They vary considerably in size, measuring from 1.65 to
1.50 inches in length, and from 1.30 to 1.35 inches in breadth. Two
eggs, taken from the same nest by Rev. C. M. Jones, have the following
measurements: one 1.60 by 1.34 inches, the other 1.50 by 1.30 inches.
Otus (Brachyotus) brachyotus, STEPH.