NORTHWESTERN HORNED OWL 345 



phonus, but much paler throughout ; the lower parts less heavily barred ; 

 the legs and feet not so conspicuously mottled. * * * This sub- 

 species of Asio magellanicus really much more resembles occidentalis or 

 pacificus than it does its nearest geographic relative, lagophonus; but is 

 not identical with either. From occidentalis it may be separated by its 

 darker upper surface, particularly the wings, and by its somewhat 

 less heavily barred lower surface; while from pacificus its larger size, 

 less ochraceous face, and the paler ochraceous of the upper surface will 

 serve for differentiation." 



Nearly all we know about the habits of this owl is contained in the 

 following account of it by Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887): 



Throughout the entire wooded part of Northern Alaska the present bird is found 

 extending its range in autumn to the open treeless shore along Bering Sea and 

 portions of the Arctic coast. In several instances at Saint Michaels I found them 

 perched on our wood-pile in the evening, late in autumn, and saw others, now and 

 then, using for a lookout the upright stacks of drift-wood we had placed above 

 high-tide mark for winter use. When traveling at night along the Yukon in mid- 

 winter I have frequently heard the hollow notes of these owls echoing from the 

 black recesses of the spruce forests which wall in the river down to within a 

 hundred miles or so of its mouth. This sound, with the sharp bark of a fox, or 

 the much rarer cry of a hare as it is caught by a lynx, or, rarer still, the long-drawn 

 howl of a wolf, are the only noises that greet the ear of the weary traveler. 



Nesting. — Dr. Nelson (1887) says: "Near Fort Yukon Kennicott 

 found them breeding on April 10, and describes the nest as a very large 

 structure made of dry spruce branches placed in a spruce tree standing 

 amid a dense growth of other trees of its kind. This date, however, 

 is probably somewhat earlier than usual, as would appear from the 

 size of the young which I have seen brought to the sea-coast by the 

 fur traders, which were not half grown by the middle of June." 



Eggs. — I have been able to locate only six eggs of this owl, three 

 sets of two eggs each. The measurements average 55.5 by 47 milli- 

 meters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 55.8 by 48.5, 

 55.1 by 49.4, and 55.5 by 45.4 millimeters. 



Food. — Dr. Louis B. Bishop (1900) says that, on his trip down the 

 Yukon, "owl pellets, some of them remarkably large, containing chiefly 

 bones of rabbits, ground squirrels, and red squirrels, were found in 

 great abundance, especially at Caribou Crossing and on Windy Island, 

 Lake Tagish, but the most careful hunting failed to disclose the owls." 



BUBO VIRGINIANUS LAGOPHONUS (Oberholser) 



NORTHWESTERN HORNED OWL 



HABITS 



In naming and describing this race, Dr. H. C. Oberholser (1904) 

 says: "This subspecies differs from pacificus in its larger size; darker 

 upper and lower parts, the latter more heavily barred; more strongly 



13751—38 23 



