OWLS 



115 



It breeds from northwestern Mackenzie and 

 central Kcewatiii to the southwestern Saskatche- 

 wan : in winicr it travels southward to Ontario, 

 Wisconsin, northeastern Illinois. North Dakota, 

 Montana, Idaho, and Colorado. 



i'hc Labrador Horned < )\\1 ( Bubo z'irc/inianiis 

 lieterucncniis) is similar lo llu- Dusky Horned 

 Owl ; but its bill is lar<,Hr, ils rear under parts 

 lighter, its feet paler and less heavily mottled, 

 and its upjier parts usually with less of a tawny 

 admixture. It occurs on the coast of Labrador 

 and Unj^ava ; in winter it is fo\nid in Xewfoiuid- 

 land. Ontario, and Toronto. 



The Saint Michael Horned Owl (Bubo vir- 

 giniamis alc/istiis) is larger than the Pacific 

 Horned Owl and with the tawny ])arts intensified 

 in color. It is found in the coa.st region of north- 

 ern -Alaska from Bristol Bay and the Yukon 

 delta northward. 



.•\s a result of his investigations of the habits 

 of this grou]) of Owls, Dr. A. K. l-'isher reports: 



" The large and handsome Great Horned Owl 

 is found throughout the United States wdiere 

 suitable timber exists for its habitation. It is a 

 voracious bird, and its capacity for good or evil 

 is very great. If the more thickly settled dis- 

 tricts where poultry is extensively raised could 

 be passed by, and the bird considered only as it 

 ajipears in the great \\ est. it would earn a secure 

 place among the beneficial species, for it is an 



important ally of the ranchman in fighting the 

 hordes of ground squirrels, go])hers, prairie dogs, 

 rabbits, and other rodents which infest his fields 

 and ranges. Where mammals are ])lenty it does 

 not seem to attack poultry or game birds to any 

 considerable extent, but in regions where rabbits 

 and squirrels are scarce, it frequently makes 

 inroads on fowls, especially where they roost in 

 trees. Undoubtedly rabbits are its favorite food, 

 though in some places the common rat is killed 

 in great numbers; we have a record of the re- 

 mains of over one hundred rats that were found 

 under one nest. The following is a list of the 

 mammals taken from the stomachs examined: 

 Three species of rabbits, cotton rat, two species 

 of pouched gophers, two species of wood rats, 

 chipmunk, two sjjecies of grassho]>per mice, 

 white-footed mouse, plateau ground scpiirrel, 

 Harris ground squirrel, musk rat, fox squirrel, 

 five species of meadow mice, one short-tailed 

 shrew, the house mouse, common rat, black bat, 

 red-backed mouse, flying scpiirrel, shrew, and 

 kangaroo rat. Besides mammals and birds, in- 

 sects (such as grasshoppers and beetles), scor- 

 pions, crawfish, and fish are also taken. The 

 Great Horned Owl does a vast amount of good, 

 and. if farmers would shut up their chickens at 

 night instead of allowing them to roost in trees 

 and other exposed places, the principal damage 

 done by the bird would be prevented." 



SNOWY OWL 



Nyctea nyctea { Liniiccus) 



A. O, U. Number 37fi See Color Plate 54 



Other Names. — Great White Owl: Ermine Owl; 

 HartaiiK; Wapacuthu ; .'\rctic Owl. 



General Description. — Length, 24 inches; spread of 

 wings. 60 inches. Color, white with dark spots. Ear- 

 tufts almost or quite lacking; 4 or 5 outer primaries 

 notched or cut away on inner webs near tips ; feet 

 densely covered with hair-like feathers, hiding the 

 black claws. 



Color, — Adult M.\le: Entire plumage, pure white, 

 sometimes nearly immaculate but usually broken 

 with transverse spots or bars of clear slaty brown on 

 crown, back, and shoulders, the wing- and tail-feathers 

 with subterminal spots of dusky; under parts, usually 

 marked on abdomen, sides, and flanks with narrow bars 

 of clear slaty brown, but these sometimes wholly absent; 

 hill, black ; iris, lemon-yellow ; claws, black. Adult 

 Female: Much darker than the adult male, only the 

 face, foreneck, center of breast, and the feet being 

 Vol. II— 9 



immaculate, other portions being heavily barred with 

 dark brownish-slate, the crown and hindneck spotted 

 with the same; bill, etc.. as in adult male. Young: 

 Uniform dusky brown or deep sooty-grayish, paler on 

 legs and feet. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: A slight depression on a 

 knoll, lined with some dried grass and a few feathers. 

 Egcs : 3 to 10. generally 5 to 7, white or pale cream. 



Distribution. — Northern parts of northern hemis- 

 phere ; in North .America breeding from far within the 

 Arctic Circle southward to northern Ungava, central 

 Keewatin, central Mackenzie, and northern British Co- 

 lumbia; in winter southward to more northern United 

 States, irregularly (according to severity of the season), 

 but sometimes numerously, to Virginia. Illinois. Kansas, 

 Colorado, and mouth of Columbia River, casually or 

 rarely to South Carolina, Louisiana. Te.xas, and Cali- 

 fornia ; accidental in the Bermudas. 



