76 



THE HAWK OWL. 



facial disk, and in the Hawk Owl this disk, or "concha," is not nearly so large or so well 

 defined as in the other members of the same group. The eyes, too, are rather differently formed, 

 as the bird is able to follow its prey by day as well as in the dark, and therefore requires 

 a character of eye which will not be injured or half blinded by ordinary daylight. The 

 plumage is closer than that of the generality of Owls, whose feathers are fringed with delicate 

 downy filaments, for the purpose of enabling them to float noiselessly through the air, for the 

 Hawk Owl is a swift-winged bird, and obtains its prey by fair chase. 



The food of the Canada Owl consists chiefly of rats, mice, and insects, during the summer 

 months ; but in the winter, while rats and mice keep within their homes, and the insects are as 

 yet in their pupa state, the Canada Owl turns its attention to birds, and will even chase and 



kill so powerful a prey as the ptar- 

 migan. It is a very bold bird, and 

 has been known to pounce upon and 

 carry away wounded game that has 

 fallen before the sportsman's gun. 

 While chasing the ptarmigan it fol- 

 lows the course of their migration, 

 hanging about the flocks and making 

 sad havoc in their numbers. 



The Hawk Owl is an inhabitant 

 of the more polar regions, being 

 most commonly seen in the extreme 

 north of Asia and America, though 

 it sometimes pays a visit to North- 

 ern Europe. Richardson tells us that 

 it seldom travels farther south than 

 Pennsylvania, but very few speci- 

 mens having been noticed in that 

 locality, and those only when the 

 winter has been more than usually 

 severe. 



Although so bold and so success- 

 ful a hunter, the Hawk Owl is by no 

 means a large bird, being only from 

 fifteen to seventeen inches in length, 

 and therefore not equalling the com- 

 mon hen harrier in dimensions. Its 

 nest is generally made on the summit 

 ^ a t' ree > contrary to the usual habit 

 o f Owls, which usually take posses- 

 sion of a hollow in some dead branch 

 and lay their eggs on the soft decay- 

 ing wood, or make their home in a convenient crevice of some old building. The male Hawk 

 Owl is rather less than the female, as is the case with most predaceous birds. 



The general color of this bird is dark spotted brown above and striped white below, 

 arranged briefly as follows : The top of the head and back is brown, covered with white spots, 

 the spots disappearing at the insertion of the wings, where a large patch of very dark brown is 

 placed. The outer edge of the concha is jetty black, and its inner surface is grayish- white. 

 The throat is also white, and the chest and abdomen are of the same tint, marked with 

 a number of irregular stripes of ashen-brown. The tail is brown, covered with a few nar- 

 row intercepted black bands. The legs are feathered as far as the claws, and the bill is 

 yellow with a few spots of black. These colors are slightly variable in individuals, owing 

 most probably to the difference of age, and in the female they are not so bright as in her 

 mate. 



HAWK OWL. Surnla ulvla. 



