of land, almost encircled by a bend of the Saskatchewan. They sailed round the
spot in a wide circle, occasionally settling on the top of a tree, but were too wary
to allow us to come within gunshot; so that, after spending much time in vain,
we were fain to relinquish the'chase. In the softness and fulness of its plumage,
its feathered legs, and habits, this bird bears some resemblance to the Owls. It
flies slowly, sits for a long time on the bough of a tree, watching for mice, frogs,
&c., and is often seen skimming over swampy pieces of ground, and hunting for
its prey by the subdued daylight, which illuminates even the midnight hours in the
high parallels of latitude. Wilson observes that, in Pennsylvania, it is in the
habit of coursing over the meadows long after the sun has set. It is fitted for
this nocturnal chase by the softness of its plumage, which contributes to render its
flight noiseless, like The small bill of tthhea t of an Owl.—R. B. lagopus, with scarcely an indication of the festoon or
sinus, and its long and attenuated wings, may be thought to place it as a typical
example of this division ; but the foregoing observation renders the accuracy of
this supposition very questionable.—Sw.
DESCRIPTION
Of a specimen in very perfect plumage, killed near the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, lat. 55°, Sept. 1826,
supposed to be a male.
C olour.—The head and adjoining part of the neck are pale wood-brown approaching to
white, streaked longitudinally with liver-brown. The remainder of the neck, the back, scapu-
laries, and lesser wing coverts, are liver-brown, each feather bordered laterally, but not at
the end, with reddish-orange or bright rust-colour. These edgings are darker and very narrow
on the rump ; but they are broad on the tail coverts, which are also tipped with white.
The outer webs of the bastard wing, greater coverts, and secondaries, are liver-brown ; their
inner webs are mostly white, barred next the shafts with brown. The ends of the primaries
are blackish-brown, with a greyish tinge on the outer webs ; the inner webs next the quills are
pure white, with some slight brown markings along the shaft. The tail is brownish-white on
the basal half, and blackish-brown on the remainder, with a narrow tip of soiled white. The
feathers have a ferruginous border posteriorly; and there is much white on their inner webs.
Under surface. The throat and under aspect of the neck are coloured like the upper surface,
but the brown streaks are narrower. The breast is wood-brown, with liver-brown shafts. The
belly and flanks are dark umber-brown, which, towards the vent, is mixed with ferruginous ;
and in the outer thigh feathers these two colours are equal in quantity, the dark one being confined
to the centres of the feathers. The under tail coverts are white, tinged with brown. The
under surface of the tail is yellowish-white on the basal, and slate-grey on the distal half. The
linings of the wings are mostly wood-brown : there is a large blackish-brown patch near the
outer edge of the wing; and the under primary coverts are blackish-grey. The inner surfaces
of the quill feathers are pure white at the base and shining blackish-brown towards their tips.