RICHARDSON'S OWL 223 



dark brown, from "cinnamon brown" to "mummy brown", without 

 any lighter markings; the wings and tail arc as in the adult; there are 

 a few white spots on the forehead and about the ears; the facial disk 

 is partially white, mottled with brown; the under parts are slightly 

 paler, "cinnamon-brown" to "Mars brown", mottled with "cinnamon- 

 buff" posterially, with some white in the center of the breast; the thighs 

 and feet are "cinnamon-buff." In older birds all these colors are 

 somew T hat paler. This plumage is apparently worn until early in fall, 

 when an incomplete molt, involving everything but the wings and 

 tail, produces the first winter plumage, which is practically adult. 

 Adults have a complete annual molt during summer and fall, which 

 may not be completed until November.] 



Food. — Small rodents and insects are the chief food of this bird, 

 which may therefore be classed among the beneficial owls, although 

 Fisher (1893b) quotes Ross as stating that in the vicinity of Fort 

 Simpson "it produced sad havoc among the flocks of linnets." There 

 are several reports of mice found in the stomachs of these birds, as for 

 example one by L. R. Wolfe (1923) where three deer mice were found 

 in the stomach of a bird taken in New York in December. Taverner 

 (1919a) says of "9 stomachs examined, one contained a small bird; 7, 

 mice; and 4, other mammals." Preble (190S) collected three nearly 

 fledged young from a nest on Slave River and found their stomachs 

 "contained the remains of white-footed mice (Pcromyscus ardicus), 

 meadow voles (Microtus drummondi) , and red-backed voles (Evo- 

 tomys g. athabascae), and a matted layer an inch and a half in thick- 

 ness, composed of the bones and hair of these species, filled the bottom 

 of the cavity [of the nesting hole]." Mr. Lawrence (1932) says of a 

 nest of five young of this species: "To judge by the pellets ejected by 

 the young, mice formed a great part of their food, but remains of small 

 birds were also in and around the nesting stump." 



R. V. Lindsay (1928) says of a captive example: "This particular 

 specimen seems to prefer mice to birds as an article of diet. One 

 evening two English Sparrows were placed in the Owl's cage. We 

 expected to find only a few feathers the following night, but on peering 

 into the cage we saw both sparrows alive and healthy." Two live 

 meadow voles (Microtus) were then placed in the cage and all that 

 remained the next day was one headless sparrow. Two mice daily 

 seemed to satisfy the bird. 



Behavior. — -All accounts of the Richardson's owl dwell on its inabil- 

 ity to see in daylight, and according to Nelson (1887) it is called the 

 "blind owl" by the Eskimos. This inference is based on the fact that 

 the bird is easily approached in the daytime and will often permit of its 

 capture by hand, but this is true to a greater or less extent of certain 

 other northern birds, in which cases it is inferred that the birds are 

 stupid or confiding from unfamiliarity with man, but the inference is 



