í H >f
GREAT CINEREOül , OWL.
STSIX CIXEHEA, Gmíelin.
I'I.ATK CCCIJ. ,
This,filié Owl, wHchii? the largest «íthe North American species,
is nowhere common with us, although it range.s from the north-eastern
<'0»st of f)ÉSi 1 • nited States to the sources of the Columbia Hiver. It
has boon procured near Kas.tport in Maim;, and at Marble Head in
Massachusetts, wfiyf^»one of them was taken. alivo, perched on a
wflod piln, early in the .morning, in J'i'bruatn 1831. 1 went IS Salem
for the purpose ot' scping it, l?.ut it had dicl, and I could not trace its
remains. The gentleman, Mr Ivks, in «ho.se.ikoi.piiig it had beep for
several months, fed it on lish and small birds, of which it was very fond.
Besides shg^ng mss various marks of attention, he gave mo a drawing
:«f it made b:y his wife,, which instill in my possession. It uttered at
times a tremulous cry not unlike that of the Little Screech Owl, Strix
•*1«'{('. and shcwcsl a great antipathy to cats and dogs- In the winter of*
1832, I saaf pile of (.beso QV¡]S, flying over the luirbour $6; Boston, Massachusetts,
amid several Gulls, all of wliicg •continued teasing it mitij-
'tíi!i¡8üppea"'d, I have seen specimens procured on the Rocky Mountains
by Or T o w n s e n d , and several bronchi to London by the medical
ml'iccr who aci'.iijiipanied Captain Back in his lat.e .Apctic journey.
Among the individuals which I have examine.,! I have foun| considerable
differences as to size and markings, which may he attributed towage
afid sex. My drawing was taken fpQipa remarkably fjjie specimen in
the collection of the Zoological Society of London.
The comparatively small size of this bird's (jfcs renders it probable
that it hunts by day, and the remarkable suiailness of its feet and claws
induces me to think that it does not prey on large animals. Dr R i c h a r d -
SOX says that it is by no means a rare bird in the Fur Countries, being
an inhabitant of all the woody districts, lying between Lake Superior
and latitudes 67° or (¡8=, and between HudsouSliay and the Pacific.
It is common on the, borders of Great, Bear Lake; and there, and in
the higher parallel^ sof latitude, it must pursue its prey, duringjithe
summer months, by day-light. It keeps however within the woods,
GREAT CINKRKOUS OW I.. 865
and does not freqpeA *he barren grounds, like the Snowy Owl, nor is
it soiofipn met ^i tb in broad day light as the Hawk Owl, but hunts
principally when the sun is low ; »deed, it is only at such times, when
the recesses of the .wwdsi are deeply shadowed, that * American hare
and the murine animals, on which the ijinoreous Owl chiefly preys,
eome forth to-feed^i On the f23d< of ;May I discovered a nest of this
Owl, built | | the top of a lofty balsam poplar, of sticks, and lined with
feathers. It contained three yening, which were covered with a whitish
down. We. got them' by,felling the tree, which was remarkably
thick : and whilst this operation wasfgomg on, the two parent birds
flew i„ circles round' the.'objects of their cares, keeping, however, so
high in the air as to be out of gunshot; they did not appear to he dazzled
hy the lighi^ The young ones were kept alive for two months,
when they made! their escape. They had thei hahjlp common also to
Other Owls, of throwing themselves back, and making a loud snapping
«»Me.with their bills, when' any one entered the room in which they
were kept*.Wi" •••
SlBIX CIKKRKA, toi». B j* P- L^.—LLOI. M . Omitll. Vol. i. ¡1. 58.—
EIIMRFÀ: and 'SWCIÏÏM. Fauna Bor:-AmëW vol. ii. p. 77-
Adult Female. Élate CCCI.I.
Rill short, stout, broadc&.lhan high at the base, its dorsal outline
convex to the end of tie, fie», which ¡severed with stiffish linear feathers
having their barbs separated, the ridge very broad, the sides
sloping and nearly;flat, the tip compressed, declined, acute ; lower
mandible small, with the angle long and wide, the dorsal, line convex,
the edges sharp, the tip narrow ; the gape-line straight, at the end decurved.
Nostrils large, elliptical; eyes largo, but proportionally smaller
than ill most other Owls.
The kstf-Ss slender, anteriorly broad, but .seems large and full on
account, of the great mass of plumage ; the neck short ; the head extremeiy
large. J'cet rather short ; the tarsi very short, and feathered ;
the toes very short and feathered, there being only two or three hare
scutella at their extremity. Claws slightly curved, long, slender, compressed,
tapering to an extremely narrow point.
Plumage very full, soft, and downy; the feathers generally oblong-
Those on the face linear, stiffish, with loose barbs, and disposed in two