_Nyctale richardsoni_, BONAP. List. E. & N. A. Birds, p. 7, 1838;
Consp. Av. p. 54, 1850.—GRAY, Gen. B. fol. sp. 2, 1844.—CASS. Birds
Cal. & Tex. p. 185, 1854; Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 57.—KAUP, Monog.
Strig. Cont. Orn. 1852, p. 105 (sub. _tengmalmi_).—IB. Tr. Zoöl. Soc.
IV, 1859, 208.—STRICKL. Orn. Syn. I, 176, 1865.—MAYNARD, Birds Eastern
Mass. 1870, 133.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 51, 1869. _Strix tengmalmi_,
RICH. & SWAINS. F. B. A. II, 94, pl. xxxii, 1831.—AUD. Birds Am. pl.
ccclxxx, 1831; Orn. Biog. IV, 599, 1831.—PEAB. Birds Mass. p. 91,
1841. _Nyctale tengmalmi_, DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago Acad. I,
1869, 273. _Nyctale tengmalmi_, var. _richardsoni_, RIDGWAY, Am. Nat.
VI, May, 1872, 285.—COUES, Key, 1872, 206.
SP. CHAR. _Adult_ (♀, 3,886, Montreal, Canada, September, 1853; Broome).
Upper surface brownish-olive or umber-brown. Forehead and crown with
numerous elliptical (longitudinal) marks of white, feathers everywhere
with large partly concealed spots of the same; these spots are largest
on the neck and scapulars, on the latter of a roundish form, the outer
webs of those next the wing being almost wholly white, the edge only
brown; on the nape the spots form V-shaped marks, the spots themselves
being somewhat pointed; below this is a transverse, less distinct
collar, of more concealed spots; wing-coverts toward the edge of the
wing with a few large, nearly circular, white spots; secondaries with
two transverse series of smaller white spots, these crossing about the
middle, remote from the end and base; outer feathers of the alula with
two white spots along the margin; primary coverts plain; primaries
with four or five transverse series of white spots; tail with the same
number of narrow transverse spots, forming incontinuous bands, the spots
not touching the shaft,—the last spot not terminal. Facial circle much
darker brown than the crown, and speckled with irregular spots of white,
these either medial or upon only one web; across the throat the circle
becomes paler brown, without the white spotting. Eyebrows and face
grayish-white; lores and eyelids blackish. Lower parts white, becoming
pale ochraceous on the legs; sides of the breast, sides, flanks, and
lower tail-coverts with daubs of brown (slightly lighter and more
reddish than on the back), those of the breast somewhat transverse, but
posteriorly they are decidedly longitudinal; front of tarsus clouded
with brown. Wing-formula, 3, 4–2–5–6–7–1. Wing, 7.20; tail, 4.50;
culmen, .60; tarsus, 1.00; middle toe, .67.
A female from Alaska (49,802, Nulato, April 28, 1867; W. H. Dall) is
considerably darker than the specimen described above; the occiput
has numerous circular spots of white, and the tarsi are more thickly
spotted; no other differences, however, are appreciable. Two specimens
from Quebec (17,064 and 17,065; Wm. Cooper) are exactly similar to the
last, but the numerous white spots on the forehead are circular.
HAB. Arctic America; in winter south into northern border of United
States; Canada (DR. HALL); Wisconsin (DR. HOY); Oregon (J. K. TOWNSEND);
Massachusetts (MAYNARD).
The _Nyctale richardsoni_, though, without doubt, specifically the same
as the _N. tengmalmi_ of Europe, is, nevertheless, to be distinguished
from it. The colors of the European bird are very much paler; the legs
are white, scarcely variegated, instead of ochraceous, thickly spotted;
the lower tail-coverts have merely shaft-streaks of brown, instead of
broad stripes. Very perfect specimens from Europe enable me to make a
satisfactory comparison.
[Illustration: _Nyctale richardsoni._]
From an article by Mr. D. G. Elliot in Ibis (1872, p. 48), it would
appear that the young of _N. tengmalmi_ is very different from the
adult in being darker and without spots; a stripe from the eye over
the nostrils, and a patch under the eye at the base of bill, white. It
is probable, therefore, that the American race has a similar plumage,
which, however, has as yet escaped the honor of a name; more fortunate
than the young of _N. acadica_, which boasts a similar plumage. This
(_N. albifrons_) Mr. Elliot erroneously refers to the _N. tengmalmi_,
judging from specimens examined by him from the Alps, from Russia, and
from Norway. The most striking difference, judging from the description,
apart from that of size, appears to be in the whiter bill of the
_tengmalmi_.
HABITS. This race is an exclusively northern bird, peculiar to North
America, and rarely met with in the limits of the United States. A few
specimens only have been obtained in Massachusetts. Dr. Hoy mentions
it as a bird of Wisconsin, and on the Pacific Dr. Townsend met with it
as far south as Oregon, where it seems to be more abundant than on the
eastern coast.
Mr. Boardman thinks that this Owl is probably a resident in the vicinity
of Calais, where, however, it is not common. It was not taken by
Professor Verrill at Norway, Maine. Mr. J. A. Allen regards it as a very
rare winter visitant in Western Massachusetts, but obtained a specimen
near Springfield in December, 1859. In the same winter another was
shot near Boston, and one by Dr. Wood, near Hartford, Conn. Mr. Allen
subsequently records the capture of a specimen in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. J.
Southwick, in the winter of 1863, and mentions two other specimens, also
taken within the limits of the State. It is not mentioned by Dr. Cooper
as among the birds of California.
Specimens of this Owl were taken at Fort Simpson in May, and at Fort
Resolution by Mr. B. R. Ross, at Big Island by Mr. J. Reid, at Fort
Rae by Mr. L. Clarke, and at Fort Yukon by Mr. J. Lockhart and Mr. J.
McDougall, and at Selkirk Settlement, in February and March, by Mr.
Donald Gunn.
Mr. B. R. Ross states that though no specimens of this Owl were received
from north of Fort Simpson, yet he is quite certain that it ranges to
the Arctic Circle. He says it is a fierce bird, and creates great havoc
among the flocks of Linnets and other small birds. Its nest is built on
trees, and the eggs are three or four in number, of a pure white color
and nearly round shape. It sometimes seizes on the deserted hole of a
Woodpecker for a habitation.
Mr. Dall obtained a female specimen of this Owl at Nulato, April 28,
where it was not uncommon. It was often heard crying in the evenings,
almost like a human being, and was quite fearless. It could be readily
taken in the hand without its making any attempt to fly away, but it
had a habit of biting viciously. It was frequently seen in the daytime
sitting on trees. According to the Indians, it generally nests in holes
in dead trees, and lays six spherical white eggs. Richardson informs us
that it inhabits all the wooded country from Great Slave Lake to the
United States, and is very common on the banks of the Saskatchewan. It
was obtained in Canada by the Countess of Dalhousie, but at what season
the bird was met with is not stated; the Smithsonian Institution also
possesses specimens from the vicinity of Montreal. It probably does not
breed so far south as that place, or, if so, very rarely. Mr. Audubon
procured a specimen near Bangor, Maine, in September, the only one he
ever met with.
This Owl, according to Mr. Hutchins, builds a nest of grass half-way up
a pine-tree, and lays two eggs in the month of May.
A drawing, taken by Mr. Audubon from a specimen in an English cabinet,
represents a nearly spherical egg, the color of which is white with a
slight tinge of yellowish, and which measures 1.18 inches in length by
one inch in breadth.
The only authenticated eggs of this variety which have come under my
notice are three collected at Fort Simpson, May 4, 1861, by B. R. Ross.
One of these measures 1.28 by 1.06 inches.
Nyctale acadica, BONAP.