[25.] 8. Strix p u n e r e a . (Lath.) American Hawk Owl.
Genus. Strix. ' Linn. Sub-genus. Surnia. Dumeril. ■
The Little Hawk Owl. ( Ulula Accipetri affinis.') Edwards, pi. 62.
Strix funerea. F o r s t e r . Phil. Trans., lxii., pv 385.
Canada Owl. Lath. Sy»., i., p. 142, sp. 29. I dem. Supply i., p. 47.
Hawk Owl. P enn. Arct. Zool., xi., p. 234, sp. 123.
Strix funerea. Lath. Ind., i., p. 62, sp. 35.
Hawk Owl. (Strix Hudsonia.) Wilson, vi., p. 64, pi. 50, f. 6.
Strix funerea. T emm., i., p. 86. Sabine. Frankl. Journ , p. 671. Bonap. Syn., p. 35, sp. 23.
Paypaw thee-cawsew, or Cobadecootch. Cr e e I n d ia n s .
Theechazza. Co p p e r I n d ia n s and Ch e p ew y a n s .
Ood no hseoot. E sq u im a u x .
This small Owl, which inhabits the Arctic Circle in both continents, belongs to
a natural group, that have small heads destitute of tufts, small and imperfect
facial disks, auditory openings neither operculated nor much exceeding those of
other birds in size, and considerable analogy in their habits to the diurnal birds
of prey. It remains all the winter in high northern latitudes, and is rarely seen
so far south as Pennsylvania, and then only in' severe winters. Wilson saw only
two specimens in the United States. It is a common species throughout the fur-
countries from Hudson’s Bay to the Pacific, and is more frequently killed than any
other by the hunters, which may be partly attributed to its boldness and its habit
of flying about by day. In the summer season it feeds principally on mice and
insects ; but in the snow-clad regions, which it frequents in the winter, neither of
these are to be procured, and it then preys mostly on Ptarmigan. It is a constant
attendant on the flocks of Ptarmigan in their spring migrations to the northward.
It builds its nest on a tree, of sticks, grass, and feathers, and lays two
white eggs. When the hunters are shooting Grouse, this bird is occasionally
attracted by the report of the gun, and is often bold enough, on a bird being
killed, to pounce down upon it, though it may be unable from its size to carry it
off. It is also known to hover round the fires made by the natives at night.
DESCRIPTION
Of a specimen killed at Cumberland House, lat. 54°, May, 1827.
Colour.— pale-yellow or whitish. The wiry feathers forming the imperfect facial
circle are intermixed with many black hairs at the inner corner of the eye, are greyish-white
behind and beneath the eye, and are bounded posteriorly by a line of deep black. The whole
STRIGIDjE. 93
upper surface of the head and nape of the neck is brownish-black, regularly and closely studded
with round white spbts, generally three or five on each feather, of which one occupies the tip,
and the others are in pairs, separated by the brown shaft. On the posterior part of the neck
the white spots are larger, and on each sitle of it there is an irregular longitudinal brownish-
black band. The rest of the plumage on the dorsal aspect has a deep liver-brown ground
colour, variously spotted with white. On the space between the shoulders, the adjoining parts
of the scapularies, and greater and lesser wing coverts, the white spots are few. On the quill
feathers the white is disposed in from three to six semiSival marks on the margins of both webs,
those on the inner webs being the largest. These spots are very conspicuous on the secondaries
; but on the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth primaries, they are wanting on the outer
webs, their site being merely indicated by a fainter shade of the brown. On the posterior
part of the back and tail coverts the white is arranged in transverse bars, and predominates
over the brown. The tail is liver-brown, tipped with white, and is crossed by seven distant
narrow, somewhat crescentic white bars.
Under surface.—The long feathers on the sides of the abdomen and thighs, under tail coverts,
and linings of the wings, are white, very regularly and perfectly, barred transversely with
chestnut-brown bands more than half the breadth of the intervening spaces. The bars on the
breast and under surface of the neck are narrower. The vent feathers are soiled-white, and
are crossed by some faint brown bars. The under surfaces of the quill and tail feathers are
clove-brown, with white spots and bars corresponding to those on the exterior surfaces.
F orm, See.—Bill nearly concealed by bristly feathers, short, curved from the base, with
an obtuse ridge and a very short cere ; cutting, margin slightly undulated. Lower mandible
notched on the side near the point and truncated at the end. Nostrils small, rounded. Head
round, of moderate size. Facial circle small, and incomplete above. Scapulary feathers
short. Folded wings falling three inches and a half short of the end of the tail. The
third quill feather is the longest, the fourth is scarcely shorter, the second is half an inch
shorter, and the fifth three-quarters of an inch shorter than the third or fourth ; the following
ones are each m succession an inch shorter: the first is a little shorter than the fifth, or about
two inches shorter than the third. The inner webs of the first four, and the outer webs of the
second, third, and fourth, are sinuated. The outer margin of the first primary only has its
barbs slightly recurved. Tail long, cuneiform, the outer feathers being an inch and a half
shorter than the middle ones. Tarsi and toes short. Inner and middle claws nearly equal
to each other, both grooved beneath, and the middle one having a sharp inner edge. The
posterior and outer ones smaller, and rounded beneath. Claws partially concealed by the
feathers covering the toes.
Length from the tip of the bill to the end
' of the tail . . . . ]
of the tail . . . . .
,. of the longest'quill feather
si of the tarsus - J . .
Length of the middle toe
„ of its claw '. ' , '
y> of the bill along its ridge ,,
„ of the: bill from the angle of the
mouth . . ■ . : -