LAND BIRDS. 



333 



spotted and barred witli black; tail mainly white, but middle feathers with several blackish 

 bars and the rest with one or more dark spots near tip. 



Adult female: Similar, but much darker; heavily spotted and barred, above and below, 

 with dark brown or blackish, only the tliroat, breast and feet immarked; tail usually 

 with three or four dark bars. 



Male: Length 20 to 23 inches; wing 15.50 to 17.30; tail 9 to 9.70. Female: Length 

 23 to 27 inches; wing 17.30 to 18.70; tail 9.70 to 10.30. 



160. Hawk Owl. Surnia ulula caparoch (Mull). (377a) 



Synonyms: American Hawk Owl, Day Owl, Canadian Owl, Hudsonian Owl. — Strix 

 caparoch, Mull., 1766. — Strix hudsonia, Gmel., Wils., Shaw. — Strix canadensis Briss. — 

 Strix funerea, Rich. & Sw., Aud., Bonap. — Surnia ulula var. hudsonica, Ridg^v. 



Figure 83. 



Known by its medium size, lack of ear-tufts, long, rounded tail, and dark 

 brown-and- white-barred breast. 



Distribution. — Arctic America, breeding from Newfoundland northward, 

 and migrating in winter to the northern border of the United States. 

 Occasional in England. 



A winter visitor from the wooded regions of the far north, where it nests 

 in April or May in hollows of trees, or in open nests of twigs and moss in 

 evergreens. It lays from three to 

 seven white unspotted eggs which 

 average 1.51 by 1.23 inches, and 

 closely resemble the eggs of the 

 Short-eared Owl. 



It is one of our rarest owls, but 

 like the Snowy Owl, occasionally 

 appears in something like abund- 

 ance. We have no record in 

 Michigan of such an occurrence, 

 but in October and November 

 1884, a wave of these birds visited 

 northern New England and scores, 

 possibly hundreds, of specimens 

 were taken; one taxidermist at 

 Bangor, Me., receiving 28 freshly 

 killed specimens within a few 

 weeks (Brewster). 



It may be looked for in the 

 northern third of Michigan from 

 the last of October until the latter 

 part of winter, but it appears to 

 retire northward much earlier 

 than the Snowy Owl, few if any, 

 lingering later than February. 

 As it hunts freely by daylight, 

 and is not particularly shy, it 

 should be easily recognized. It 

 perches like a hawk on the top 

 of some dead stub or isolated tree, 

 from which it watches for its prey, 

 which consists mainly of mice, 



Fig. 83. Hawk Owl. 



From photograph of mounted specimen. 



(Original.) 



