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 Another Random Document on
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 Common Characters. Liver-brown or umber, variously spotted and
barred with whitish or ochraceous. Bill yellow; iris brownish-black.
2. S. nebulosum. Lower parts striped longitudinally. Head and
neck with transverse bars.
Colors reddish-umber and ochraceous-white. Face with
obscure concentric rings of darker. Wing, 13.00–14.00; tail,
9.00–10.00. Hab. Eastern region of United States … var.
nebulosum.
Colors blackish-sepia and clear white. Face without any darker
concentric rings. Wing, 14.80; tail, 9.00. Hab. Eastern Mexico
(Mirador) … var. sartorii.21
Colors tawny-brown and bright fulvous. Face without darker
concentric rings (?). Wing, 12.50, 12.75; tail, 7.30, 8.50. Hab.
Guatemala … var. fulvescens.22
3. S. occidentale. Lower parts transversely barred. Head and
neck with roundish spots. Wing, 12.00–13.10; tail, 9.00. Hab.
Southern California (Fort Tejon, Xantus) and Arizona (Tucson,
Nov. 7, Bendire).

Syrnium (Scotiaptex) cinereum, Audubon.

GREAT GRAY OWL.

Strix cinerea, Gmel. Syst. Nat. p. 291, 1788.—Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 58, 1790; Syn. I,
134; Supp. I, 45; Gen. Hist. I, 337.—Vieill. Nouv. Dict. Hist. Nat. VII, 23, 1816;
Enc. Méth. III, 1289; Ois. Am. Sept. I, 48.—Rich. & Swains. F. B. A. II, pl. xxxi,
1831.—Bonap. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 436; Isis, 1832, p. 1140.—Aud. Birds Am. pl.
cccli, 1831; Orn. Biog. IV, 364.—Nutt. Man. p. 128.—Tyzenhauz, Rev. Zoöl. 1851,
p. 571. Syrnium cinereum, Aud. Synop. p. 26, 1839.—Cass. Birds Cal. & Tex. p.
184, 1854; Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 56.—Brew. (Wils.) Am. Orn. p. 687.—De Kay,
Zoöl. N. Y. II, 26, pl. xiii, f. 29, 1844.—Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 188, 1855.—Newb.
P. R. R. Rept. VI, iv, 77, 1857.—Coop. & Suck. P. R. R. Rept. XII, ii, 156, 1860.—
Kaup, Tr. Zoöl. Soc. IV, 1859, 256.—Dall & Bannister, Tr. Chicago Acad. I, 1869,
173.—Gray, Hand List, I, 48, 1869.—Maynard, Birds Eastern Mass., 1870, 130.—
 Scotiaptex cinerea, Swains. Classif. Birds, II, 217, 1837. Syrnium lapponicum,
var. cinereum, Coues, Key, 1872, 204. Strix acclamator, Bart. Trans. 285, 1792.
Sp. Char. Adult. Ground-color of the upper surface dark vandyke-brown, but this
relieved by a transverse mottling (on the edges of the feathers) of white, the
medial portions of the feathers being scarcely variegated, causing an appearance
of obsolete longitudinal dark stripes, these most conspicuous on the scapulars and
back. The anterior portions above are more regularly barred transversely; the
white bars interrupted, however, by the brown medial stripe. On the rump and
upper tail-coverts the mottling is more profuse, causing a grayish appearance. On
the wing-coverts the outer webs are most variegated by the white mottling. The
alula and primary coverts have very obsolete bands of paler; the secondaries are
crossed by nine (last terminal, and three concealed by coverts) bands of pale
grayish-brown, inclining to white at the borders of the spots; primaries crossed by
nine transverse series of quadrate spots of mottled pale brownish-gray on the
outer webs, those beyond the emargination obscure,—the terminal crescentic bar
distinct, however; upper secondaries and middle tail-feathers with coarse
transverse mottling, almost forming bars. Tail with about nine paler bands, these
merely marked off by parallel, nearly white bars, enclosing a plain grayish-brown,
sometimes slightly mottled space, just perceptibly darker than the ground-color;
basally the feathers become profusely mottled, so that the bands are confused;
the last band is terminal. Beneath with the ground-color grayish-white, each
feather of the neck, breast, and abdomen with a broad, longitudinal ragged stripe
of dark brown, like the ground-color of the upper parts; sides, flanks, crissum, and
lower tail-coverts with regular transverse narrow bands; legs with finer, more
irregular, transverse bars of dusky. “Eyebrows,” lores, and chin grayish-white, a
dusky space at anterior angle of the eye; face grayish-white, with distinct
concentric semicircles of blackish-brown; facial circle dark brown, becoming white
across the foreneck, where it is divided medially by a spot of brownish-black,
covering the throat.
♂ (32,306, Moose Factory, Hudson Bay Territory; J. McKenzie). Wing-formula,
4=5, 3, 6–2, 7–8–9, 1. Wing, 16.00; tail, 11.00; culmen, 1.00; tarsus, 2.30;
middle toe, 1.50.
♀ (54,358, Nulato, R. Am., April 11, 1868; W. H. Dall). Wing-formula, 4=5, 3, 6–2,
7–8–9, 1. Wing, 18.00; tail, 12.50; culmen, 1.00; tarsus, 2.20; middle toe, 1.70.
Hab. Arctic America (resident in Canada?). In winter extending into northern
borders of United States (Massachusetts, Maynard).

The relationship between the Syrnium cinereum and the S.

lapponicum is exactly parallel to that between the Otus vulgaris, var.
wilsonianus, and var. vulgaris, Surnia ulula, var. hudsonia, and the
var. ulula, and Nyctale tengmalmi, var. richardsoni, and the var.
tengmalmi. In conformity to the general rule among the species
which belong to the two continents, the American race of the
present bird is very decidedly darker than the European one, which
has the whitish mottling much more prevalent, giving the plumage a
lighter and more grayish aspect. The white predominates on the
outer webs of the scapulars. On the head and neck the white equals
the dusky in extent, while on the lower parts it largely prevails. The
longitudinal stripes of the dorsal region are much more conspicuous
in lapponicum than in cinereum.
 Syrnium cinereum.

A specimen in the Schlütter collection, labelled as from “Nord-

Europa,” is not distinguishable from North American examples, and is
so very unlike the usual Lapland style that we doubt its being a
European specimen at all.
Habits. The Great Gray or Cinereous Owl appears to be confined to
the more northern portions of North America. It is rarely met with in
any part of the United States, and only in winter, with the exception
of Washington Territory, where it is presumed to be a resident. It is
also said to be a resident in Canada, and to be found in the vicinity
of Montreal. Mr. Lawrence does not include this bird in his list of the
birds of New York, but Mr. Turnbull states that several have been
taken as far south as New Jersey. Throughout New England it is
occasional in the winter, but comparatively rare. Mr. Allen did not
hear of any having been taken near Springfield. On the coast of
Massachusetts they are of infrequent occurrence, and are held at
high prices. A fine specimen was shot in Lynn in the winter of 1872,
and is now in the collection of my nephew, W. S. Brewer. On the
Pacific coast it is resident as far south as the mouth of the Columbia,
and is found in winter in Northern California.
Dr. Richardson met with this Owl in the fur regions, where it seemed
to be by no means rare. He mentions it as an inhabitant of all the
wooded districts which lie between Lake Superior and latitude 67°
and 68°, and between Hudson’s Bay and the Pacific. It was common
on the borders of Great Bear Lake, in which region, as well as in a
higher parallel of latitude, it pursues its prey during the summer
months by daylight. It was observed to keep constantly within the
woods, and was not seen to frequent the barren grounds, in the
manner of the Snowy Owl, nor was it so often met with in broad
daylight as the Hawk Owl, apparently preferring to hunt when the
sun was low and the recesses of the woods deeply shadowed, when
the hares and other smaller quadrupeds, upon which it chiefly feeds,
were most abundant.
On the 23d of May, Dr. Richardson discovered a nest of this Owl,
built on the top of a lofty balsam-poplar, composed of sticks, with a
lining of feathers. It contained three young birds, covered with a
whitish down, to secure which it was necessary to cut down the
tree. While this was going on, the parent birds flew in circles around
the tree, keeping out of gun-shot, and apparently undisturbed by the
light. The young birds were kept alive for several weeks, but finally
escaped. They had the habit, when any one entered the room in
which they were kept, of throwing themselves back and making a
loud snapping noise with their bills.
In February, 1831, as Audubon was informed, a fine specimen of
one of these Owls was taken alive in Marblehead, Mass., having
been seen perched upon a woodpile early in the morning. It was
obtained by Mr. Ives, of Salem, by whom it was kept several months.
It was fed on fish and small birds, and ate its food readily. It would
at times utter a tremulous cry, not unlike that of the common
Screech-Owl (Scops asio), and manifested the greatest antipathy to
cats and dogs.
Dr. Cooper found this bird near the mouth of the Columbia River, in a
brackish meadow partially covered with small spruce-trees, where
they sat concealed during the day, or made short flights from one to
another. Dr. Cooper procured a specimen there in June, and has no
doubt that the bird is resident and breeds in that neighborhood. He
regards it as somewhat diurnal in its habits, and states that it is
especially active toward sunset.
Dr. Newberry speaks of this Owl as one generally distributed over
the western part of the continent, he having met with it in the
Sacramento Valley, in the Cascade Mountains, in the Des Chutes
Basin, and in Oregon, on the Columbia River. Mr. Robert MacFarlane
found it in great abundance in the Anderson River region. On the
19th of July, as we find in one of his memoranda, he met with a nest
of this species near Lockhart River, on the route to Fort Good Hope.
The nest was on the top of a pine-tree, twenty feet from the ground.
It contained two eggs and two young, both of which were dead. The
nest was composed of sticks and mosses, and was lined thinly with
down. The female was sitting on the nest, but left it at his approach,
and flew to a tree at some distance, where she was shot.
Mr. Donald Gunn writes that the Cinereous Owl is to be found both
in summer and in winter throughout all the country commonly
known as the Hudson Bay Territory. He states that it hunts by night,
preys upon rabbits and mice, and nests in tall poplar-trees, usually
quite early in the season.
A single specimen of this Owl was taken at Sitka by Bischoff, and on
the 20th of April Mr. Dall obtained a female that had been shot at
Takitesky, about twenty miles east of the Yukon, near Nulato. He
subsequently obtained several specimens in that region. Mr. Dall
describes it as very stupid, and easy to be caught by the hand
during the daytime. From its awkward motions its Indian name of
nūhl-tūhl, signifying “heavy walker,” is derived. So far as observed by
Mr. Dall, this Owl appeared to feed principally upon small birds, and
he took no less than thirteen crania and other remains of Ægiothus
linaria from the crop of a single bird.
Specimens of this Owl have also been received by the Smithsonian
Institution, collected by Mr. Kennicott, from Fort Yukon and from
Nulato; from Mr. J. McKenzie, Moose Factory; from J. Lockhart,
obtained at Fort Resolution and at Fort Yukon; from J. Flett, at La
Pierre House; from B. R. Ross, at Big Island; and from Mr. S. Jones
and Mr. J. McDougall, at Fort Yukon. These were all taken between
February 11 and July 19.
One of the eggs of this Owl, referred to above in Mr. MacFarlane’s
note, is in my cabinet. It is small for the size of the bird, and is of a
dull soiled-white color, oblong in shape, and decidedly more pointed
at one end than at the other. It measures 2.25 inches in length by
1.78 in breadth. The drawing of an egg of this species, made by Mr.
Audubon from a supposed specimen of an egg of this species,
referred to in the “North American Oölogy,” and which measured
2.44 by 2.00 inches, was probably a sketch of the egg of the Snowy
Owl.

Syrnium nebulosum, Gray.

BARRED OWL; “HOOT OWL.”

Strix nebulosa, Forst. Phil. Trans. XXII, 386 & 424, 1772.—Gmel. Syst. Nat. p. 291,
1789.—Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 58, 1790; Syn. I, 133; Gen. Hist. I, 338.—Daud. Tr.
Orn. II, 191, 1800.—Shaw, Zoöl. VII, 245, 1839; Nat. Misc. pl. xxv.—Vieill. Ois.
Am. Sept. pl. xvii, 1807; Nouv. Dict. Hist. Nat. VII, 32; Enc. Méth. III, 1292.—
Aud. Birds Am. pl. xlvi, 1831; Orn. Biog. I, 242.—Temm. Man. Orn. pt. i, p. 88;
 pt. iii, p. 47.—Wern. Atl. Ois. Eur.—Meyer, Taschenb. Deutsch Vogelk. III, 21;
Zusätze, p. 21.—Wils. Am. Orn. pl. xxxiii, f. 2, 1808.—Rich. & Swains. F. B. A. II,
81.—Bonap. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, 38; Isis, 1832, p. 1140.—Jard. (Wils.) Am. Orn.
II, 57, 1832. Ulula nebulosa, Steph. Zoöl. XIII, pl. ii, p. 60, 1815.—Cuv. Reg. An.
(ed. 2), I, 342, 1829.—James. (Wils.) Am. Orn. I, 107, 1831; IV, 280.—
Bonaparte, List, page 7, 1838; Conspectus Avium, p. 53.—Gould, Birds Eur. pl.
xlvi.—Less. Man. Orn. I, 113, 1828; Tr. Orn. p. 108.—Gray, Gen. B. fol. (ed. 2),
p. 8, 1844.—De Kay, Zoöl. N. Y. II, 29, pl. x, f. 21, 1844. Syrnium nebulosum,
Gray, Gen. B. fol. sp. 9, 1844; List Birds Brit. Mus. p. 104.—Cass. Birds Cal. &
Tex. p. 184, 1854; Birds N. Am. 1858, 56.—Giraud, Birds Long Island, p. 24,
1844.—Woodh. in Sitgr. Rept. Expl. Zuñi & Colorad. p. 63, 1853.—Brew. (Wils.)
Am. Orn. p. 687, 1852.—Kaup, Monog. Strig. Cont. Orn. 1852, p. 121.—Ib. Tr.
Zoöl. Soc. IV, 256.—Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 189, 1855.—Max. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858,
28.—Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 330 (Texas, resident).—Coues, Key, 1872, 204.—Gray,
Hand List, I, 48, 1869.
Sp. Char. Adult. Head, neck, breast, back, scapulars, and rump with broad regular
transverse bars of ochraceous-white and deep umber-brown, the latter color
always terminal; on the upper surface the brown somewhat exceeds the whitish in
width, but on the neck and breast the white rather predominates. The lower third
of the breast is somewhat differently marked from the upper portion, the brown
bars being connected along the shaft of the feather, throwing the white into pairs
of spots on opposite webs. Each feather of the abdomen, sides, flanks, and lower
tail-coverts has a broad medial longitudinal stripe of brown somewhat deeper in
tint than the transverse bars on the upper parts; the anal region is plain, more
ochraceous, white; the legs have numerous, but rather faint, transverse spots of
brown. Ground-color of the wings and tail brown, like the bars of the back; middle
and secondary wing-coverts with roundish transverse spots of nearly pure white
on lower webs; lesser coverts plain rich brown; secondaries crossed by six bands
of pale grayish-brown, passing into paler on the edge of each feather,—the last is
terminal, passing narrowly into whitish; primary coverts with four bands of darker
ochraceous-brown; primaries with transverse series of quadrate pale-brown spots
on the outer webs (growing deeper in tint on inner quills), the last terminal; on
the longest are about eight. Tail like the wings, crossed with six or seven sharply
defined bands of pale brown, the last terminal.
Face grayish-white, with concentric semicircular bars of brown; eyebrows and lores
with black shafts; a narrow crescent of black against anterior angle of the eye.
Facial circle of blackish-brown and creamy-white bars, the former prevailing along
the anterior edge, the latter more distinct posteriorly, and prevailing across the
neck in front, where the brown forms disconnected transverse spots.
♀ (752, Carlisle, Penn.). Wing-formula, 4–3, 5–2, 6; 1=9. Wing, 13.00; tail, 9.00;
culmen, 1.05; tarsus, 1.90; middle toe, 1.50.
♂. A little smaller. (No specimen marked ♂ in the collection.)
Hab. Eastern North America, west to the Missouri; Rio Grande region.

A female (?) from Calais, Me., (4,966; G. A. Boardman,) is somewhat

lighter-colored than the type, owing to the clearer white of the bars.
It measures, wing, 13.50; tail, 9.80.
A specimen (4,357, January) from Washington, D. C., is quite
remarkable for the very dark tints of plumage and the unusual
prevalence of the brown; this is of a more reddish cast than in all
other specimens, becoming somewhat blackish on the head and
neck; anteriorly it prevails so as to almost completely hide the pale
bars of the back and nape. The tail has no bars except three or four
very obsolete ones near the end; beneath, the ochraceous tinge is
quite deep. The toes, except their first joint, are perfectly naked; the
middle one, however, has a narrow strip of feathering running along
the outer side as far as the last joint. The darker shades of color,
and more naked toes, seem to be distinguishing features of southern
examples.
 Syrnium nebulosum.

Habits. The Barred Owl has an extended range, having been met
with nearly throughout North America, from about latitude 50° to
Texas. Minnesota is the most western point to which, so far as I am
aware, it has been traced. It is more abundant in the Southern
States than elsewhere, and in the more northern portions of North
America is somewhat rare. Richardson did not encounter it in the
more arctic portion of the fur countries, nor has it, so far as I can
learn, been observed on the Pacific coast. It is said to be of
accidental occurrence in northern Europe.
In Louisiana, as Mr. Audubon states, it is more abundant than
anywhere else; and Dr. Woodhouse speaks of it as very common in
the Indian Territories, and also in Texas and New Mexico, especially
in the timbered lands bordering the streams and ponds of that
region. In July, 1846, while in pursuit of shore birds in the island of
Muskeget, near Nantucket, in the middle of a bright day, I was
surprised by meeting one of these birds, which, uninvited, joined us
in the hunt, and when shot proved to be a fine male adult specimen.
The Barred Owl was found in great abundance in Florida by Mr. J. A.
Allen, the only species of Owl at all common, and where its ludicrous
notes were heard at night everywhere, and even occasionally in the
daytime. At night they not unfrequently startle the traveller by their
strange utterances from the trees directly over his head.
Mr. Dresser speaks of it as very abundant at all seasons of the year
in the wooded parts of Texas. He was not able to find its nest, but
was told by the hunters that they build in hollow trees, near the
banks of the rivers.
According to Mr. Downes, this Owl is common throughout Nova
Scotia, where it is resident, and never leaves its particular
neighborhood. It breeds in the woods throughout all parts of that
colony, and was observed by him to feed on hares, spruce and
ruffed grouse, and other birds. It is said to be a quite common event
for this bird to make its appearance at midnight about the camp-fires
of the moose-hunter and the lumberer, and to disturb their slumbers
with its cries, as with a demoniacal expression it peers into the glare
of the embers. Distending its throat and pushing its head forward, it
gives utterance to unearthly sounds that to the superstitious are
quite appalling.
Mr. Wilson regarded this species as one of the most common of the
Owls in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, where it was particularly
numerous in winter, among the woods that border the extensive
meadows of the Schuylkill and the Delaware River. He frequently
observed it flying during the day, when it seemed to be able to see
quite distinctly. He met with more than forty of these birds in one
spring, either flying or sitting exposed in the daytime, and once
discovered one of its nests situated in the crotch of a white oak,
among thick foliage, and containing three young. It was rudely put
together, made outwardly of sticks, intermixed with dry grasses and
leaves, and lined with smaller twigs. He adds that this Owl screams
in the day in the manner of a Hawk. Nuttall characterizes their
peculiar hooting as a loud guttural call, which he expresses by
’koh-’koh-’ko-’ko-’ho, or as ’whah-’whah-’whah-’whah-aa, heard
occasionally both by day and by night. It is a note of recognition,
and may be easily imitated, and can be used as a means to decoy
the birds. Nuttall received a specimen that had been shot in
November, hovering, in the daytime, over a covey of Quail.
Mr. Audubon speaks of the peculiar hooting cries of this species as
strangely ludicrous in sound, and as suggestive of an affected burst
of laughter. He adds that he has frequently seen this nocturnal
marauder alight within a few yards of his camp-fire, exposing its
whole body to the glare of the light, and eying him in a very curious
manner, and with a noticeable liveliness and oddness of motion. In
Louisiana, where he found them more abundant than anywhere else,
Mr. Audubon states that, should the weather be lowering, and
indicative of the approach of rain, their cries are so multiplied during
the day, and especially in the evening, and they respond to each
other in tones so strange, that one might imagine some
extraordinary fête was about to take place among them. At this time
their gesticulations are said to be of a very extraordinary nature.
The flight of this Owl is described as remarkably smooth, light,
noiseless, and capable of being greatly protracted. So very lightly do
they fly, that Mr. Audubon states he has frequently discovered one
passing over him, and only a few yards distant, by first seeing its
shadow on the ground, in the bright moonlight, when not the
faintest rustling of its wings could be heard.
This Owl has the reputation of being very destructive to poultry,
especially to half-grown chickens. In Louisiana they are said to nest
in March, laying their eggs about the middle of the month. Audubon
states that they nest in hollow trees on the dust of the decomposed
wood, and at other times take possession of the deserted nest of a
crow, or of a Red-tailed Hawk. In New England I think they construct
their own nest. Mr. William Street, of Easthampton, Mass., has twice
found the nest of this Owl. On one occasion it had young, unfledged.
Upon returning to get them, a few days later, they had disappeared,
and as he conjectures, had been removed by their parents. Another
time he found a nest in a lofty pine, and at a height of sixty feet. He
saw and shot the old bird. He has often found them hiding
themselves by day in a thick hemlock. In the winter of 1869, Mr.
Street witnessed a singular contest between a Barred Owl and a
Goshawk over a Grouse which the latter had killed, but of which the
Owl contested the possession. The Hawk had decidedly the
advantage in the fight, when the contest was arrested by shooting
the Owl. He has noticed a pair of Barred Owls in his neighborhood
for the past four years, and has never known them to hoot from the
time they have reared their young to the 14th of February. They
then begin about an hour after dark, and their hooting continues to
increase until about the 8th of April, when they mate, at which time
their hooting may be heard both day and night. There is a very great
difference observable between the cries of the female and the
utterances of the male. The latter seldom hoots, and there is as
much difference between his voice and that of the female as
between the crowing of a young bird and of the old cock.
In two instances I have known well-developed eggs of this Owl
taken from the oviduct of the female in February. One of these cases
occurred near Niagara Falls in the spring of 1852. The other, in 1854,
was noticed by Professor William Hopkins, then of Auburn, N. Y., to
whose kindness I was indebted for the egg the parentage of which is
so unquestionable. It is purely white, almost globular, and, except in
shape, hardly distinguishable from the egg of the domestic Hen. It is
2.00 inches in length, and 1.69 in breadth.

Syrnium occidentale, Xantus.

WESTERN BARRED OWL; SPOTTED OWL.
Syrnium occidentale, Xantus, P. A. N. S. Philad. 1859, 193.—Baird, Birds N. Am.
App. pl. lxvi.—Coues, Key, 1872, 204.
Sp. Char. Adult (♂, 17,200, Fort Tejon, California; J. Xantus. Type of Xantus’s
description). Above deep umber-brown, much as in S. nebulosum. Whole head
and neck with circular and cordate spots of white, one near the end of each
feather; on the scapulars and back, rump, wings, and tail, they are rather sparse
and more transverse, but of very irregular form; they are most conspicuous on the
scapulars and larger wing-coverts. Secondaries crossed with about six bands of
paler brown, each spot growing white on the edge of the feather,—the last band
terminal; primaries with seven transverse series of pale brown, or brownish-white,
quadrate spots on outer webs, the last terminal; these spots are almost clear
white on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth quills. Tail with about eight very narrow,
rather obsolete, bands of pale brown, growing whiter and more distinct terminally,
the last forming a conspicuous terminal band. Ground-color of the lower parts dull
white, somewhat tinged with ochraceous laterally; everywhere with numerous
transverse spots and bars of brown like the back,—this predominating anteriorly,
the white forming spots on opposite webs; on the lower tail-coverts the transverse
spots or bars are very sharply defined and regular, the brown rather exceeding the
white. Face, eyebrows, and lores soiled brownish-white, the former with obscure
concentric semicircles of darker brownish. Facial circle blackish-brown, spotted
posteriorly with white; across the neck in front, it is more broken. Legs white, with
sparse obsolete transverse specks. Wing-formula, 4, 3, 5–6–2; 1=9. Wing, 13.10;
tail, 9.00; culmen, .85; tarsus, 2.10; middle toe, 1.30. Length, “18”; extent, “40.”
Hab. Southern Middle Province of United States (Fort Tejon, California, Xantus; and
Tucson, Arizona, Bendire).
 Syrnium occidentale.

Habits. Nothing is on record concerning the habits of this bird.

Genus NYCTALE, Brehm.

Nyctale, Brehm, 1828. (Type, Strix tengmalmi, Gmel.)

Gen. Char. Size small. Head very large, without ear-tufts. Eyes moderate; iris
yellow. Two outer primaries only with their inner webs distinctly emarginated. Tarsi
and toes densely, but closely, feathered. Ear-conch very large, nearly as high as
the skull, with an anterior operculum; the two ears exceedingly asymmetrical, not
only externally, but in their osteological structure. Furcula not anchylosed
posteriorly, but joined by a membrane.
 12053 ½
Nyctale acadica.

Of this genus only three species are as yet known; two of these
belong to the Northern Hemisphere, one of them (N. tengmalmi)
being circumpolar, the other (N. acadica) peculiar to North America.
The habitat of the remaining species (N. harrisi) is unknown, but is
supposed to be South America. If it be really from that portion of the
New World, it was probably obtained in a mountainous region.

Species and Races.

Common Characters. Above umber, or chocolate, brown, spotted

with white (more or less uniform in the young); beneath white
with longitudinal stripes of reddish-brown (adult), or ochraceous
without markings (young).
A. Nostril sunken, elongate-oval, obliquely vertical, opening
laterally; cere not inflated. Tail considerably more than half the
wing. Bill yellow.
1. N. tengmalmi. Wing, 7.20; tail, 4.50; culmen, .60; tarsus,
1.00; middle toe, .67 (average).
 Legs white, almost, or quite, unspotted; lower tail-coverts
with narrow shaft-streaks of brown. (Light tints generally
predominating.) Hab. Northern portions of Palæarctic
Realm … var. tengmalmi.23
Legs ochraceous, thickly spotted with brown; lower tail-
coverts with broad medial stripes of brown. (Dark tints
generally predominating.) Hab. Northern portions of
Nearctic Realm … var. richardsoni.
B. Nostril prominent, nearly circular, opening anteriorly; cere
somewhat inflated. Tail scarcely more than half the wing. Bill
black.
2. N. acadica. Wing, 5.25 to 5.80; tail, 2.60 to 3.00; culmen,
.50; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .60. Juv. Face dark brown;
forehead and crown brown; occiput brown; eyebrows and
sides of chin white; throat and breast umber-brown. (=
“albifrons,” Shaw = “kirtlandi,” Hoy.) Hab. Cold temperate
portions of Nearctic Realm.

3. N. harrisi.24 Wing, 5.80; tail, 3.00; culmen, .50; tarsus,

1.00; middle toe, .80. Juv. (?) Face and forehead and anterior
half of crown and whole nape ochraceous; posterior half of
crown and occiput black; eyebrows and sides of chin
ochraceous; throat and breast ochraceous. A narrow belt of
black spots in ruff across throat. Hab. South America?

Nyctale tengmalmi, var. richardsoni, Bonap.

AMERICAN SPARROW OWL; RICHARDSON’S OWL.

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.

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.
SAW-WHET OWL; WHITE-FRONTED OWL; KIRTLAND’S OWL.

Strix acadica, Gmel. Syst. Nat. p. 296, 1789.—Daud. Tr. Orn. II, 206, 1800.—Vieill.
Ois. Am. Sept. I, 49, 1807.—Aud. Birds Am. pl. cxcix, 1831; Orn. Biog. V, 397.—
Rich. & Swains. F. B. A. II, 97, 1831.—Bonap. Ann. Lyc. N. Y. II, pp. 38, 436; Isis,
1832, p. 1140.—Jard. (Wils.) Am. Orn. II, 66.—Naum. Nat. Vög. Deutschl. (ed.
Nov.) I, 434, pl. xliii, figs. 1 & 2.—Peab. Birds Mass. p. 90.—Nutt. Man. p. 137,
1833. Nyctale acadica, Bonap. List, p. 7, 1838; Consp. Av. p. 44.—Gray, Gen. B.
fol. App. p. 3, 1844.—Kaup, Monog. Strig. Cont. Orn. 1852, p. 104.—Ib. Tr. Zoöl.
Soc. IV, 1859, 206.—Strickl. Orn. Syn. I, 176, 1855.—Newb. P. R. R. Rept. VI,
77, 1857.—Cass. Birds N. Am. 1858, 58.—Coop. & Suck. P. R. R. Rept. XII, ii,
156, 1860.—Coues, Prod. B. Ariz. 14, 1866.—Gray, Hand List, I, 1869, 51.—
Lord, Pr. R. A. I. IV, iii (Brit. Columb.).—Ridgway, Am. Nat. VI, May, 1872, 285.
—Coues, Key, 1872, 206.—Gray, Hand List, I, 51, 1869. Scotophilus acadicus,
Swains. Classif. Birds II, 217, 1837. Strix passerina, Penn. Arct. Zoöl. p. 236, sp.
126, 1785.—Forst. Phil. Transl. LXII, 385.—Wils. Am. Orn. pl. xxxiv, f. 1, 1808.
Ulula passerina, James. (Wils.), Am. Orn. I, 159, 1831. Strix acadiensis, Lath.
Ind. Orn. p. 65, 1790. S. albifrons, Shaw, Nat. Misc. V, pl. clxxi, 1794; Zoöl. VII,
238, 1809.—Lath. Orn. Supp. p. 14. Bubo albifrons, Vieill. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 54,
1807. Scops albifrons, Steph. Zoöl. XIII, ii, 51. Nyctale albifrons, Cass. Birds Cal.
& Tex. 187, 1854.—Bonap. Consp. Av. p. 54.—Cass. Birds N. Am. 1858, 57.—
Gray, Hand List, I, 52, 1869. Strix frontalis, Licht. Abh. Ak. Berl. 1838, 430.
Nyctale kirtlandi, Hoy, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. VI, 210, 1852. S. phalænoides,
Daud. Tr. Orn. II, 206, 1800.—Lath. Ind. Orn. Supp. p. 16, 1802; Syn. Supp. II,
66; Gen. Hist. I, 372, 1828. Athene phalænoides, Gray, Gen. B. fol. sp. 43,
1844. Athene wilsoni, Boie, Isis, 1828, 315.
Sp. Char. Adult (♀, 120,044, Washington, D. C., Feb., 1859; C. Drexler). Upper
surface plain soft reddish-olive, almost exactly as in N. richardsoni; forehead,
anterior part of the crown, and the facial circle, with each feather with a short
medial line of white; feathers of the neck white beneath the surface, forming a
collar of blotches; lower webs of scapulars white bordered with brown; wing-
coverts with a few rounded white spots; alula with the outer feathers broadly
edged with white. Primary coverts and secondaries perfectly plain; five outer
primaries with semi-rounded white spots on the outer webs, these decreasing
toward the ends of the feathers, leaving but about four series well defined. Tail
crossed with three widely separated narrow bands of white, formed of spots not
touching the shaft on either web; the last band is terminal. “Eyebrow” and sides of
the throat white; lores with a blackish suffusion, this more concentrated around
the eye; face dirty white, feathers indistinctly edged with brownish, causing an
obsoletely streaked appearance; the facial circle in its extension across the throat
is converted into reddish-umber spots. Lower parts, generally, silky-white,
becoming fine ochraceous on the tibiæ and tarsi; sides of the breast like the back,
but of a more reddish or burnt-sienna tint; sides and flanks with longitudinal daubs
of the same; jugulum, abdomen, lower tail-coverts, tarsi, and tibiæ, immaculate.
Wing formula, 4–3=5–1=8. Wing, 5.40; tail, 2.80; culmen, .50; tarsus, .80; middle
toe, .60.
Seven specimens before me vary from, wing, 5.25 to 5.80; tail, 2.60 to 3.00 (♀).
The largest specimen is 12,053 (♀, Fort Tejon, California; J. Xantus). This differs
from the specimen described in whiter face, more conspicuous white streaks on
forehead, smaller, less numerous, red spots below, and in having a fourth white
band on the tail; this, however, is very inconspicuous. 32,301 (Moose Factory; J.
McKenzie), 9,152 (Fort Vancouver, February; Dr. J. G. Cooper), and 11,793
(Simiahmoo, October; Dr. C. B. Kennedy) are exactly like the type. There are no
authentic males before me, though only two are marked as females; the extremes
of the series probably represent the sexual discrepancy in size.
Young (♂, 12,814, Racine, Wisconsin, July, 1859; Dr. R. P. Hoy). Upper surface
continuous plain dark sepia-olive; face darker, approaching fuliginous-vandyke,—
perfectly uniform; around the edge of the forehead, a few shaft-lines of white;
scapulars with a concealed spot of pale ochraceous on lower web; lower feathers
of wing-coverts with a few white spots; outer feather of the alula scalloped with
white; primary coverts perfectly plain; five outer primaries with white spots on
outer webs, these diminishing toward the end of the feathers, leaving only two or
three series well defined; tail darker than the wings, with three narrow bands
composed of white spots, these not touching the shaft on either web. “Eyebrows”
immaculate white; lores more dusky; face and eyelids dark vandyke-brown; sides
of the chin white. Throat and whole breast like the back, but the latter paler
medially, becoming here more fulvous; rest of the lower parts plain fulvous-
ochraceous, growing gradually paler posteriorly,—immaculate. Lining of the wing
plain dull white; under surface of primaries with dusky prevailing, but this crossed
by bands of large whitish spots; the three outer feathers, however, present a
nearly uniformly dusky aspect, being varied only basally. Wing formula, 3, 4–2=5
6–7, 1. Wing, 5.50; tail, 2.80; culmen, .45; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .65.
Hab. North America generally. Cold temperate portions in the breeding-season,
migrating southward in winter. Mexico (Oaxaca, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1858, 295);
California (Dr. Cooper); Cantonment Burgwyn, New Mexico (Dr. Anderson);
Washington Territory (Dr. Kennerly).
Nyctale acadica. Young.
 Nyctale acadica. Adult.

A specimen (15,917, ♂, Dr. C. B. Kennerly, Camp Skagitt, September

29, 1859) from Washington Territory is exactly similar to the young
described above. No. 10,702 (Fort Burgwyn, New Mexico; Dr.
Anderson) is much like it, but the facial circle is quite conspicuous,
the feathers having medial white lines; the reddish-olive of the
breast and the fulvous of the belly are paler, also, than in the type.
No. 12,866, United States, (Professor Baird’s collection, from
Audubon,) is perfectly similar to the last.
My reasons for considering the N. albifrons as the young of N.
acadica are the following (see American Naturalist, May, 1872):—
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