_Strix brachyotus_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. 289, 1789.—FORST. Phil. Trans.
LXII, 384.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. xxxiii, f. 3.—AUD. Birds Am. pl.
ccccxxxii, 1831.—IB. Orn. Biog. V, 273.—RICH. & SWAINS. F. B. A. II,
75.—BONAP. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 37.—THOMPS. N. H. Vermont, p. 66.—PEAB.
Birds Mass. p. 89. _Ulula brachyotus_, JAMES. (WILS.), Am. Orn. I,
106, 1831.—NUTT. Man. 132. _Otus brachyotus_, (STEPH.) JARD. (WILS.),
Am. Orn. II, 63, 1832.—PEALE, U. S. Expl. Exp. VIII, 75.—KAUP, Monog.
Strig. Cont. Orn. 1852, 114.—IB. Tr. Zoöl. Soc. IV, 1859, 236.—HUDSON,
P. Z. S. 1870, 799 (habits). _Asio brachyotus_, STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I,
259, 1855. _Otus brachyotus americanus_, MAX. Cab. Jour. II, 1858, 27.
_Brachyotus palustris_, BONAP. List. 1838, p. 7.—RIDGW. in COUES, Key,
1872, 204. _Otus palustris_, (DARW.) DE KAY, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 28, pl.
xii, f. 27, 1844. _Brachyotus palustris americanus_, BONAP. Consp. Av.
p. 51, 1849. _Brachyotus cassini_, BREWER, Pr. Boston Soc. N. H.—NEWB.
P. R. Rep’t, VI, IV, 76.—HEERM. do. VII, 34, 1857.—CASSIN (in BAIRD)
Birds N. Am. 1858, 54.—COOP. & SUCKL. P. R. Rep’t, XII, ii, 155,
1860.—COUES, P. A. N. S. (Prod. Orn. Ariz.) 1866, 14.—GRAY, Hand List,
I, 51, 1869. _Brachyotus galopagoensis_, GOULD, P. Z. S. 1837, 10.
_Otus galopagoensis_, DARW. Zool. Beag. pt. iii, p. 32, pl. iii.—GRAY,
Gen. fol. sp. 3; List Birds Brit. Mus. 108.—BONAP. Consp. 51. _Asio
galopagoensis_, STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 1855, 211.
SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Ground-color of the head, neck, back, scapulars,
rump, and lower parts, pale ochraceous; each feather (except on the
rump) with a medial longitudinal stripe of blackish-brown,—these
broadest on the scapulars; on the back, nape, occiput, and jugulum,
the two colors about equal; on the lower parts, the stripes grow
narrower posteriorly, those on the abdomen and sides being in the form
of narrow lines. The flanks, legs, anal region, and lower tail-coverts
are always perfectly immaculate; the legs most deeply ochraceous, the
lower tail-coverts nearly pure white. The rump has obsolete crescentic
marks of brownish. The wings are variegated with the general dusky and
ochraceous tints, but the markings are more irregular; the yellowish in
form of indentations or confluent spots, approaching the shafts from
the edge,—broadest on the outer webs. Secondaries crossed by about
five bands of ochraceous, the last terminal; primary coverts plain
blackish-brown, with one or two poorly defined transverse series of
ochraceous spots on the basal portion. Primaries ochraceous on the basal
two-thirds, the terminal portion clear dark brown, the tips (broadly)
pale brownish-yellowish, this becoming obsolete on the longest; the
dusky extends toward the bases, in three to five irregularly transverse
series of quadrate spots on the outer webs, leaving, however, a large
basal area of plain ochraceous,—this somewhat more whitish anteriorly.
The ground-color of the tail is ochraceous,—this becoming whitish
exteriorly and terminally,—crossed by five broad bands (about equalling
the ochraceous, but becoming narrower toward outer feathers) of
blackish-brown; on the middle feathers, the ochraceous spots enclose
smaller, central transverse spots of blackish; the terminal ochraceous
band is broadest.
Eyebrows, lores, chin, and throat soiled white, the loral bristles with
black shafts; face dingy ochraceous-white, feathers with darker shafts;
eye broadly encircled with black. Post-orbital circle minutely speckled
with pale ochraceous and blackish, except immediately behind the ear,
where for about an inch it is uniform dusky.
Lining of the wing immaculate delicate yellowish-white; terminal half of
under primary coverts clear blackish-brown; under surface of primaries
plain delicate ochraceous-white; ends, and one or two very broad
anterior bands, dusky.
♂ (906, Carlisle, Penn.). Wing-formula, 2–1, 3. Wing, 11.80; tail, 5.80;
culmen, .60; tarsus, 1.75; middle toe, 1.20.
[Illustration: =6888= ½ ½
_Otus brachyotus._]
[Illustration: =6883= ⅓
_Otus brachyotus._]
♀ (1,059, Dr. Elliot Coues’s collection, Washington, D. C.).
Wing-formula, 2–3–1–4. Wing, 13.00; tail, 6.10; culmen, .65; tarsus,
1.80; middle toe, 1.20.
HAB. Entire continent and adjacent islands of America; also Europe,
Asia, Africa, Polynesia, and Sandwich Islands.
Localities: Oaxaca (SCL. P. Z. S. 1859, 390); Cuba (CAB. Journ. III,
465; GUNDL. Rept. 1865, 225, west end); Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S.
1866, 50); Brazil (PELZ. Orn. Bras. I, 10); Buenos Ayres (SCL. & SALV.
P. Z. S. 1868, 143); Chile (PHILIPPI, Mus. S. I.).
In view of the untangible nature of the differences between the American
and European Short-eared Owls (seldom at all appreciable, and when
appreciable not constant), we cannot admit a difference even of race
between them. In fact, this species seems to be the only one of the
Owls common to the two continents in which an American specimen cannot
be distinguished from the European. The average plumage of the American
representative is a shade or two darker than that of European examples;
but the lightest specimens I have seen are several from the Yukon region
in Alaska, and one from California (No. 6,888, Suisun Valley).
Not only am I unable to appreciate any tangible differences between
European and North American examples, but I fail to detect characters
of the least importance whereby these may be distinguished from South
American and Sandwich Island specimens (“_galopagoensis_, Gould,” and
“_sandwichensis_, Blox.”). Only two specimens, among a great many
from South America (Paraguay, Buenos Ayres, Brazil, etc.), are at all
distinguishable from Northern American. These two (Nos. 13,887 and
13,883, Chile) are somewhat darker than others, but not so dark as No.
16,029, ♀, from Fort Crook, California. A specimen from the Sandwich
Islands (No. 13,890) is nearly identical with these Chilean birds, the
only observable difference consisting in a more blackish forehead, and
in having just noticeable dark shaft-lines on the lower tail-coverts.
[Illustration: _Otus brachyotus._]
In the geographical variations of this species it is seen that the
average plumage of North American specimens is just appreciably darker
than that of European, while tropical specimens have a tendency to be
still darker. I know of no bird so widely distributed which varies
so little in the different parts of its habitat, unless it be the
_Cotyle riparia_, which, however, is not found so far to the south. The
difference, in this case, between the American and European birds, does
not correspond at all to that between the two easily distinguished races
of _Otus vulgaris_, _Nyctale tengmalmi_, _Surnia ulula_, and _Syrnium
cinereum_.
A specimen from Porto Rico (No. 39,643) is somewhat remarkable on
account of the prevalence of the dusky of the upper parts, the unusually
few and narrow stripes of the same on the lower parts, the roundish
ochraceous spots on the wings, and in having the primaries barred to the
base. Should all other specimens from the same region agree in these
characters, they might form a diagnosable race. The plumage has an
abnormal appearance, however, and I much doubt whether others like it
will ever be taken.
HABITS. The Short-eared Owl appears to be distributed, in varying
frequency, throughout North America, more abundant in the Arctic regions
during the summer, and more frequently met with in the United States
during the winter months. Richardson met with it throughout the fur
countries as far to the north as the 67th parallel. Professor Holböll
gives it as a bird of Greenland, and it was met with in considerable
abundance by MacFarlane in the Anderson River district. Mr. Murray
mentions a specimen received from the wooded district between Hudson’s
Bay and Lake Winnipeg. Captain Blakiston met with it on the coast of
Hudson’s Bay, and Mr. Bernard Ross on the Mackenzie River.
Mr. Dresser speaks of it as common at times near San Antonio during the
winter months, keeping itself in the tall weeds and grass. It is given
by Dr. Gundlach as an occasional visitant of Cuba.
Dr. Newberry met with it throughout Oregon and California, and found
it especially common in the Klamath Basin. On the level meadow-like
prairies of the Upper Pitt River it was seen associating with the Marsh
Hawk in considerable numbers. It was generally concealed in the grass,
and rose as the party approached. He afterwards met with this bird on
the shores of Klamath Lake, and in the Des Chutes Basin, among grass
and sage-bushes, in those localities associated with the Burrowing Owl
(_A. hypogæa_). In Washington Territory it was found by Dr. Cooper on
the great Spokane Plain, where, as elsewhere, it was commonly found in
the long grass during the day. In fall and winter it appeared in large
numbers on the low prairies of the coast, but was not gregarious. Though
properly nocturnal, it was met with, hunting on cloudy days, flying low
over the meadows, in the manner of the Marsh Hawk. He did not meet with
it in summer in the Territory.
Dr. Heermann found it abundant in the Suisun and Napa valleys of
California, in equal numbers with the _Strix pratincola_. It sought
shelter during the day on the ground among the reeds, and, when startled
from its hiding-place, would fly but a few yards and alight again upon
the ground. It did not seem wild or shy. He afterwards met with the same
species on the desert between the Tejon Pass and the Mohave River, and
again saw it on the banks of the latter. Richardson gives it as a summer
visitant only in the fur countries, where it arrives as soon as the snow
disappears, and departs again in September. A female was killed May 20
with eggs nearly ready for exclusion. The bird was by no means rare,
and, as it frequently hunted for its prey in the daytime, was often
seen. Its principal haunts appeared to be dense thickets of young pines,
or dark and entangled willow-clumps, where it would sit on a low branch,
watching assiduously for mice. When disturbed, it would fly low for a
short distance, and then hide itself in a bush, from whence it was not
easily driven. Its nest was said to be on the ground, in a dry place,
and formed of withered grass. Hutchins is quoted as giving the number of
its eggs as ten or twelve, and describing them as round. The latter is
not correct, and seven appears to be their maximum number.
Mr. Downes speaks of it as very rare in Nova Scotia, but Elliott Cabot
gives it as breeding among the islands in the Bay of Fundy, off the
coast, where he found several nests. It was not met with by Professor
Verrill in Western Maine, but is found in other parts of the State. It
is not uncommon in Eastern Massachusetts, where specimens are frequently
killed and brought to market for sale, and where it also breeds in
favorable localities on the coast. Mr. William Brewster met with it on
Muskeget, near Nantucket, where it had been breeding, and where it was
evidently a resident, its plumage having become bleached by exposure
to the sun, and the reflected light of the white sand of that treeless
island. It is not so common in the interior, though Mr. Allen gives it
as resident, and rather common, near Springfield. Dr. Wood found it
breeding in Connecticut, within a few miles of Hartford.
Dr. Coues gives it as a resident species in South Carolina, and Mr.
Allen also mentions it, on the authority of Mr. Boardman, as quite
common among the marshes of Florida. Mr. Audubon also speaks of finding
it so plentiful in Florida that on one occasion he shot seven in a
single morning. They were to be found in the open prairies of that
country, rising from the tall grass in a hurried manner, and moving in
a zigzag manner, as if suddenly wakened from a sound sleep, and then
sailing to some distance in a direct course, and dropping among the
thickest herbage. Occasionally the Owl would enter a thicket of tangled
palmettoes, where with a cautious approach it could be taken alive. He
never found two of these birds close together, but always singly, at
distances of from twenty to a hundred yards; and when two or more were
started at once, they never flew towards each other.
Mr. Audubon met with a nest of this Owl on one of the mountain ridges
in the great pine forest of Pennsylvania, containing four eggs nearly
ready to be hatched. They were bluish-white, of an elongated form, and
measured 1.50 inches in length and 1.12 in breadth. The nest, made in
a slovenly manner with dry grasses, was under a low bush, and covered
over with tall grass, through which the bird had made a path. The parent
bird betrayed her presence by making a clicking noise with her bill as
he passed by; and he nearly put his hand on her before she would move,
and then she hopped away, and would not fly, returning to her nest as
soon as he left the spot. The pellets disgorged by the Owl, and found
near her nest, were found to consist of the bones of small quadrupeds
mixed with hair, and the wings of several kinds of coleopterous insects.
This bird was found breeding near the coast of New Jersey by Mr. Krider;
and at Hamilton, Canada, on the western shore of Lake Ontario; Mr.
McIlwraith speaks of its being more common than any other Owl.
A nest found by Mr. Cabot was in the midst of a dry peaty bog. It was
built on the ground, in a very slovenly manner, of small sticks and a
few feathers, and presented hardly any excavation. It contained four
eggs on the point of being hatched. A young bird the size of a Robin was
also found lying dead on a tussock of grass in another similar locality.
The notes of Mr. MacFarlane supply memoranda of twelve nests found by
him in the Anderson River country. They were all placed on the ground,
in various situations. One was in a small clump of dwarf willows, on the
ground, and composed of a few decayed leaves. Another nest was in a very
small hole, lined with a little hay and some decayed leaves. This was on
a barren plain of some extent, fifty miles east of Fort Anderson, and on
the edge of the wooded country. A third was in a clump of Labrador Tea,
and was similar to the preceding, except that the nest contained a few
feathers. This nest contained seven eggs,—the largest number found, and
only in this case. A fourth was in an artificial depression, evidently
scratched out by the parent bird. Feathers seem to have been noticed in
about half the nests, and in all cases to have been taken by the parent
from her own breast. Nearly all the nests were in depressions made for
the purpose.
Mr. Dall noticed the Short-eared Owl on the Yukon and at Nulato,
and Mr. Bannister observed it at St. Michael’s, where it was a not
unfrequent visitor. In his recent Notes on the Avi-fauna of the Aleutian
Islands, (Pr. Cal. Academy, 1873,) Dall informs us that it is resident
on Unalashka, and that it excavates a hole horizontally for its
nesting-place,—usually to a distance of about two feet, the farther end
a little the higher. The extremity is lined with dry grass and feathers.
As there are no trees in the island, the bird was often seen sitting
on the ground, near the mouth of its burrow, even in the daytime. Mr.
Ridgway found this bird in winter in California, but never met with
it at any season in the interior, where the _O. wilsonianus_ was so
abundant.
The eggs of this Owl are of a uniform dull white color, which in
the unblown egg is said to have a bluish tinge; they are in form an
elliptical ovoid. The eggs obtained by Mr. Cabot measured 1.56 inches in
length and 1.25 in breadth. The smallest egg collected by Mr. MacFarlane
measured 1.50 by 1.22 inches. The largest taken by Mr. B. R. Ross, at
Fort Simpson, measures 1.60 by 1.30 inches; their average measurement is
1.57 by 1.28 inches. An egg of the European bird measures 1.55 by 1.30
inches.