376 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and brown areas and markings not only darker in color but more 

 extended, the whitish ones correspondingly reduced in extent; pileum 

 with black predominating, and scapulars with the white areas much 

 broken by bands of blackish brown, and barring on under parts 

 denser" (Ridgway, 1914). 



Swainson and Richardson (1831) give us the earliest account of the 

 American hawk owl, saying: "This small Owl, which inhabits the 

 Arctic Circle in both continents, belongs to a natural group, that have 

 small heads destitute of tufts, small and imperfect facial disks, audi- 

 tory openings neither operculated nor much exceeding those of other 

 birds in size, and considerable analogy in their habits to the diurnal 

 birds of prey. * * * It is a common species throughout the 

 fur-countries from Hudson's Bay to the Pacific, and is more frequently 

 killed than any other by the hunters, which may be partly attributed 

 to its boldness and its habit of flying about by day." 



A. D. Henderson (1919), writing of the haunts of the hawk owl, 

 which he finds breeding quite commonly near Belvedere, Alberta, 

 says: "To the north lies the great northern forest of poplars, spruce, 

 pine, birch, tamarac, willow, alder, etc., which, broken only by 

 smaller prairies, burns, and muskegs, extends north to the limit of 

 trees. * * * The particular haunt of the Hawk Owl is in the 

 muskegs and here they can usually be found perched on some dead 

 stub watching for prey." 



Nesting. — Bendire (1892) writes: 



Mr. W. H. Dall, of the U. S. Coast Survey, found a nest of this species, contain- 

 ing six eggs, on the top of an old birch stub about 15 feet from the ground, near 

 Nulato, Alaska, May 5, 1868. The eggs were lying directly on the rotten wood, 

 and the male was sitting on them. Climbing to the nest, the bird dashed at 

 him and knocked off his cap. * * * 



According to Mr. B. R. Ross, it nests occasionally in cliffs, but its usual nesting 

 sites are probably natural cavities in trees, where they are obtainable, but when 

 such are wanting open nests placed on the decayed tops of stumps or among the 

 limbs of thick and bushy conifers are used. 



Roderick MacFarlane (1908) says: "This bird is not uncommon in 

 the region of Anderson River, although only four nests were discovered 

 there some forty years ago. They were all built on spruce pine trees 

 at a fairly high height from the ground, and were constructed of small 

 twigs, branches, and lined with dry grasses and moss." 



Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1900) found two nests in northern Alaska; of 

 the first, he says: "On April 26th I located a pair of Hawk Owls which 

 by their restlessness indicated a nesting site near by. The nest was 

 finally found, but there were as yet no eggs. It was in the hollow 

 end of a leaning dead spruce stub about ten feet above the ground. 

 The dry rotten-wood chips in the bottom were modelled into a neatly- 

 rounded depression." 



Of the other, he writes: 



