_Strix freti hudsonis_, BRISS. Orn. I, 520, 1760. _Strix hudsonia_,
GMEL. Syst. Nat. p. 295, 1789.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. l, f. 6, 1808.—SHAW,
Zoöl. VII, 274, 1809.—VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 50. _Surnia hudsonia_,
JAMES. (WILS.) Am. Orn. I, 90, 1831. _Surnia ulula_, var. _hudsonica_,
(RIDGWAY) COUES, Key, 1872, 205. _Strix canadensis_, BRISS. Orn.
I, 518, pl. xxxvii, f. 2, 1789.—SHAW, Zoöl. VII, 273, 1809. _Strix
funerea_ (not of LINNÆUS!), RICH. & SWAINS. F. B. A. II, 92,
1831.—AUD. Birds Am. pl. ccclxxviii, 1831; Orn. Biog. IV. 550.—BONAP.
Ann. Lyc. N. York, II, 35.—BREWER (WILS.), Am. Orn. p. 686.—THOMPS.
Hist. Vermont, p. 64.—PEAB. Birds Mass. III, 83. _Surnia ulula_ (not
_ulula_ of LINN.!), CASS. Birds Calif. & Tex. p. 191, 1854.—Birds
N. Am. 1858, 64.—GRAY, Hand List, I, 39, 1869.—BLACKIST. Ibis, III,
320.—LORD, Pr. R. A. I. IV, III (Brit. Columb.).—KAUP, Tr. Zoöl.
Soc. IV, 1859, 214.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chicago Acad. I, II,
274.—MAYNARD, Birds Eastern Mass., 1870, 133.
SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Above rich dark vandyke-brown, darker anteriorly,
less intense and more grayish on tail. A narrow streak of brownish-black
originating over the middle of eye, and extending backward above the
upper edge of the ear-coverts, where it forms an elbow passing downward
in a broad stripe over the ends of the ear-coverts; confluent with
this, at about the middle of the vertical stripe, is another of similar
tint, which passes more broadly down the side of the nape; between
the last stripes (those of opposite sides) is another or medial one
of less pure black, extending from the occiput down the nape. Every
feather of the forehead, crown, and occiput with a central ovate dot
of white; those anterior more circular, on the occiput less numerous
and more linear. Between the lateral and posterior nuchal stripes the
white prevails, the brown forming irregular terminal and transverse or
medial spots; these grow more linear toward the back. Interscapulars
plain; posterior scapulars variegated with partially concealed large
transverse spots of white, the lower feathers with nearly the whole
outer webs white, their confluence causing a conspicuous elongated patch
above the wing. Rump with sparse, irregular, but generally transverse,
spots of white; upper tail-coverts with broader, more regular bars
of the same, these about equal to the brown in width. Lower feathers
of the middle and secondary wing-coverts each with an ovoid spot of
white on the outer web; secondaries crossed by about three transverse
series of longitudinally ovoid white spots (situated on the edge of the
feather), and very narrowly tipped with the same; primary coverts with
one or two less continuous transverse series of spots, these found only
on the outer feathers; primaries with about seven transverse series
of white spots, these obsolete except on the five outer feathers, on
which those anterior to the emargination are most conspicuous; all the
primaries are very narrowly bordered with white at the ends. Tail with
seven or eight very narrow bands of white, those on the middle feathers
purely so, becoming obsolete exteriorly; the last is terminal. Eyebrows,
lores, and face grayish-white, the grayish appearance caused by the
blackish shafts of the feathers; that of the face continues (contracting
considerably) across the lower part of the throat, separating a large
space of dark brown, which covers nearly the whole throat, from an
indistinct collar of the same extending across the jugulum,—this collar
uniting the lower ends of the auricular and cervical dusky bands, the
space between which is nearly clear white. Ground-color of the lower
parts white, but everywhere with numerous very regular transverse bars
of deep brown, of a tint more reddish than the back, the brown bars
rather more than half as wide as the white ones; across the upper part
of the breast (beneath the dark gular collar) the white invades very
much and reduces the brown, forming a broad lighter belt across the
jugulum; below this the brown bars increase in width, their aggregation
tending somewhat to a suffusion, giving the white jugular belt better
definition. On the legs and toes the bars are narrower, more distant,
and less regular.
The whole lining of the wing is barred just like the sides. The dark
brown prevails on the under surface of the primaries, etc.; the former
having transverse, irregular, elliptical spots of white, these touching
neither the shaft nor the edge: on the longest quill are seven of these
spots; on all they are anterior to the emargination.
♂ (49,808, Nulato, Alaska, April 21, 1867; W. H. Dall). Wing-formula,
3, 4–2–5–6–1. Wing, 9.00; tail, 7.00; culmen, .70; tarsus (of another
specimen; wanting in the present), .90; middle toe, .82.
♀ (49,807, Nulato, April 20; W. H. Dall). Wing-formula, 3, 4–2–5–6–7=1.
Wing, 9.00; tail, 6.80; culmen, .70; middle toe, .80.
HAB. Arctic America, south in winter into northern United States;
Wisconsin (DR. HOY); Massachusetts (DR. BREWER; MAYNARD); Dakota and
Montana (Mus. S. I.).
The Hawk Owl of North America is to be distinguished from that of
Europe and Siberia by the same characters which distinguish the
American Sparrow Owl from the European, namely, much darker shade of
the brown and its greater prevalence. Three perfect specimens of the
Old World bird (a pair from Lapland, and a specimen from Kamtschatka,
Petropawloosk, W. H. Dall) agree in prevalence of the white over the
head above, the confluence of the spots on the scapulars forming a
larger, more conspicuous patch, and very broad and almost immaculate
jugular belt; the brown bars beneath are very much narrower than in the
American bird, and the tint is not different from that of the back. The
legs and toes are scarcely variegated. While acknowledging the identity
of the two representative forms, the differences are such as to entitle
them to separation as races.
HABITS. The American form of the Hawk Owl inhabits the northern portions
of both continents, and is common in the Arctic portions. On the
Atlantic coast of this continent it has been found as far south as
Philadelphia and the State of New Jersey, but its presence south of
latitude 45° is probably only occasional and rather rare. The European
form, according to Mr. Dresser, has not been known to exist in the
British Islands, but several instances are quoted of the occurrence
of the American form in Great Britain. One was taken off the coast of
Cornwall in March, 1830; another was shot near Yatton, in Somersetshire,
on a sunny afternoon in August, 1847; a third had previously been taken
at Maryhill, near Glasgow, in December, 1863. On the Pacific coast
it has not been taken farther south than Alaska, though it is quite
probable it may yet be found to be an occasional visitant in Washington
Territory and Oregon, and even the northern portions of California. It
remains all the winter in high northern latitudes, and the instances of
its having been taken even in Massachusetts, so far as is now known, are
not many. Wilson only met with two specimens. Audubon and Nuttall never
met with one of these birds alive.
[Illustration: _Surnia ulula._]
Mr. Downes states that the Hawk Owl is very abundant in Nova Scotia
in the winter time in some years, but may not be seen again for four
or five seasons. It is common in Newfoundland, where it breeds in
the Caribou districts. Mr. Downes often kept living specimens in
confinement, which had been taken on board the Cunard steamers off the
coast.
Mr. Boardman gives this species as resident, though rare, in the
neighborhood of Calais, being occasionally found there in the
breeding-season. In Oxford County, Maine, Professor A. E. Verrill says
it is a common autumnal and winter visitant, and that it is quite
abundant from the first of November to the middle of March, but not
found there in the summer. Mr. Allen has never met with it in Western
Massachusetts. Near Boston, in some seasons, it is not uncommon, though
never occurring with any frequency, and only singly. It is found
throughout the State, and is probably more common late in November than
at any other time; several having been taken in Westfield, and also
in Berkshire County, among the Green Mountains. I am not aware that
any have been taken farther south than Philadelphia, near which city
Mr. Edward Harris obtained one specimen, while another was shot at
Haddington in 1866. Mr. McIlwraith calls it a rare winter visitant near
Hamilton, Canada.
Richardson states that it is a common species throughout the fur
countries from Hudson Bay to the Pacific, where it is killed by the
hunters more frequently than any other, which may be attributed to
its boldness and to its diurnal habits. During the summer season it
feeds principally upon mice and insects, but in the regions in which
it is found in winter, where the snow is very deep, and where this
food is not procurable, it must depend on the Ptarmigan, and, indeed,
is found a constant attendant upon the flocks of these birds in their
spring migrations. When the hunters are shooting Grouse, it is said to
be occasionally attracted by the report of the gun, and is often bold
enough, when a bird has been killed, to pounce down upon it, although it
is unable, from its inferior size, to carry it off. It is also said to
occasionally hover round the fires made by the Indians at night.
To this account of its habits Richardson adds that it builds its nest
on a tree, of sticks, grass, and feathers, and lays two white eggs. In
regard to the number of eggs, he is now known to be inaccurate. Mr.
MacFarlane met with this bird in considerable numbers in the region
of Anderson River, where he found several nests, and all of which he
made any record were built in pine-trees at considerable height from
the ground. One nest is said to have been on the top of a pine about
twenty feet in height, and was composed of small sticks and twigs,
lined with moss. Both parents were obtained. This nest contained two
young birds—one of which was about ten days old, the other about three
weeks—and an addled egg. This nest was found on the 20th of June,
showing that the bird began to incubate early in May.
Another nest, taken on the 28th of April, was found to contain six
eggs. It was built in the top crotch of a tall pine, was composed of
dry sticks, and lined with hay and a few feathers. A third nest also
contained six eggs, and was lined with green mosses and deer’s hair. One
nest contained as many as seven eggs, and all but one had as many as
six. Mr. MacFarlane speaks of it as a winter resident.
Mr. B. R. Ross states that he found this bird throughout the Great Slave
Lake district, but not plentiful. It winters in even the northernmost
parts of the wooded country. It is said to build its nest not only on
trees, but also on cliffs, and to lay as early as the last of March or
the first of April. He states that the eggs are usually four in number,
and describes them as of a dead white, of an oblong-oval shape, and as
measuring 1.39 inches by 1.21. He received three eggs with the parent
bird, taken at Lapierre’s House, and another parent, with nest and four
eggs, from Salt River.
Mr. Dall found this the most common species of Owl about Nulato. Many
of both sexes were obtained, and on the 16th of April he took from the
ovary of a female an egg ready for laying. On the 5th of May Mr. Dall
obtained six eggs which were laid on the top of an old birch stump, and
fifteen feet from the ground. There was no nest other than that the
rotten wood was somewhat hollowed out, and the eggs laid directly upon
it. As he was climbing to the nest, the male bird which had been sitting
on the nest attacked Mr. Dall, and knocked off his cap. The female did
not appear.
Mr. Donald Gunn states that these Owls hunt in the daytime, and feed
chiefly upon mice; and Mr. Dall seldom found anything but mice in their
crops, and adds that it is very fond of flying, towards dusk, from the
top of one tall spruce to another, apparently swinging or balancing
itself, calling to its mate at intervals, while chasing or being chased
by it.
Captain Drummond states, in “Contributions to Ornithology” (p. 37), that
he noticed a bird of this species, on the wing, within a few yards of
him, in the Bermudas.
Mr. Dresser, who had ample opportunities of observing the Hawk Owl in
New Brunswick, where he found it by no means uncommon, describes it
as a true day Owl. It was often seen by him hawking after prey in the
strongest sunshine, or seated quietly blinking on the top of an old
blasted tree, apparently undisturbed by the glare of the sun. In its
general appearance, and particularly in its flight, it appeared to him
to have considerable affinity to the Sparrow Hawk. In New Brunswick
it affected the open plains or so-called blueberry barrens, where the
open country is covered with low bushes and an occasional scathed tree.
It would sit on one of these trees for hours in an upright hawk-like
position, occasionally hunting over the ground, like the Kestrel of
Europe, in search of small field-mice. It showed but little fear, and
could be easily approached within gun-shot. When shot at and missed,
it would take a short flight and return to its former perch. On one
occasion Mr. Dresser, firing at one with a rifle, cut the branch close
under the bird, which returned almost immediately to another branch, was
a second time missed, and finally fell under a third shot.
Its note is said to be a shrill cry, similar to the call of the European
Kestrel, and generally uttered on the wing. The stomach was generally
found filled with small field-mice, and rarely contained any remains
of small birds. They appeared to hunt after food chiefly early in the
forenoon and in the evening. During the day they rested on some elevated
perch. In the night they retired to rest like other diurnal _Raptores_.
An egg of this Owl, taken from the oviduct of its parent by Mr. B. R.
Ross, April 16, at Fort Simpson, measures 1.50 inches in length by 1.20
in breadth. It is of oval shape, and of a dull-white color. Another
egg measures 1.62 by 1.30 inches, is of a rounded oval, equally obtuse
at either end, and of a yellowish-white color. It was taken by Mr.
MacFarlane at Fort Anderson.
_Genus_ GLAUCIDIUM, BOIE.
_Glaucidium_, BOIE, Isis, 1826, 970. _Microptynx_, KAUP. (Type, _Strix
passerina_, LINN.)
_Microglaux_, KAUP. (Type, _Strix havanense_, KAUP, = _G. siju_
(D’ORB.) CAB.)
? _Taenioptynx_, KAUP. (Type, _Noctua brodiei_, BURT.)
GEN. CHAR. Size very small; head rather small; bill and feet very strong
and robust; no ear-tufts; tail long, about three fourths as long as the
wing, rounded. Nostrils circular, opening in the middle of the inflated
cere-membrane (except in _G. siju_). Tarsus about equal to the middle
toe, densely feathered; toes haired. Four outer quills with their inner
webs emarginated; third to fourth longest. Ear-conch very small, simple,
rounded. Bill yellowish (except in _G. phalænoides_?); iris yellow.
The genus is most largely developed within the tropical regions, only
one species (_G. passerinum_) belonging to the cold temperate zone, and
this is found on both continents. They are the most robustly organized
of all Owls, and, for their size, are very predatory, as in the next
genus (_Micrathene_), though themselves hardly larger than a Sparrow,
they frequently feed upon small birds, and, no doubt, often destroy the
passerine species of nearly their own size. Like the most of the group
to which this genus belongs, they are diurnal in their habits, and fly
about during the brightest sunshine. They inhabit chiefly dense forests,
and for this reason, are less well known than the more easily accessible
Owls.
[Illustration: =36874=
_Glaucidium californicum._]
The following synopsis includes only the North American and Mexican
species of _Glaucidium_. In tropical America are several others very
distinct from those here given.
Species and Races.
COMMON CHARACTERS. Above brown, varying from nearly gray to bright
ferruginous, in some species this color interrupted by a more or
less distinct whitish nuchal collar, with an adjacent blackish spot
(sometimes concealed) on each side of the neck. Tail with narrow
bands. Beneath white, the sides striped with brown or blackish. Throat
and jugulum white, with a dusky collar between. Crown speckled or
streaked with lighter; wings more or less spotted with the same.
=A.= Markings on the crown circular, or dot-like.
1. =G. passerinum.= Tail with six to eight narrow white bands.
Upper parts varying from brownish-gray to chocolate-brown.
Ground-color of the lower parts pure white.
Tail, and stripes on sides, not darker than the back; tail-bands
six, and continuous; toes rather thickly feathered. _Hab._
Europe …
var. _passerinum_.[32]
Tail, and stripes on sides, much darker than the back;
tail-bands 7 (♂)–8 (♀), not continuous; toes only scantily
haired. Wing, 3.50–4.00; tail, 2.50–2.80; culmen, .43–.48;
tarsus, .60; middle toe, .55. _Hab._ Western Province of North
America. Table-lands of Mexico …
var. _californicum_.
=B.= Markings on the crown longitudinal and linear.
2. =G. infuscatum.= Tail dark brown, crossed by six to seven
non-continuous bands of white, narrower than the dark ones. Above
varying from grayish-brown to reddish-umber and sepia. Beneath
white, the stripes on the sides grayish-brown or dark brown, like
the back.
Above dark sepia, or blackish-brown. Tail brownish-black or deep
black. Wing, 3.70–3.90; tail, 2.50–2.90; culmen, .45; tarsus,
.65–.80; middle toe, .65–.70. _Hab._ Eastern South America …
var. _infuscatum_.[33]
Above grayish, or reddish-umber. Tail clear dark brown, or
grayish-umber.
Wing, 3.60–3.90; tail, 2.35–2.75; culmen, .45–.50; tarsus,
.65–.80; middle toe, .60–.70. _Hab._ Middle America, from the
Rio Grande (probably in Texas) to Panama …
var. _gnoma_.[34]
3. =G. ferrugineum.= Tail crossed by seven to nine continuous
bands of dark brown and bright rufous, of nearly equal width.
Above varying from grayish-brown to bright ferruginous; beneath
varying from pure white to pale rufous, the stripes on the sides
like the back. Wing, 3.70–4.15; tail, 2.20–2.90; culmen, .45–.50;
tarsus, .70–.80; middle toe, .70–.75. _Hab._ Tropical America,
from southern border of United States to Southern Brazil.
Glaucidium passerinum, var. californicum (SCLATER).