THE NORTHERN SPOTTED OWL. 465 



post. There is more flapping of wing than in the case of the ]\Iarsh Hawk, 

 but the movement is absolutely noiseless, being hushed by the soft plumage 

 of the axillaries and under wing-coverts. Now and then the bird, tiring 

 of an exclusive swamp diet, goes poaching. Taking up a station upon the 

 ground, it silently awaits the appearance of some timid gopher, which the 

 Burrowing Owl has overlooked. In securing its smaller victims, the Owl 

 does not pounce and tarr}-, but snatches in mid-flight, falcon-fashion, and 

 retires to some favorite perch to eat. 



Its food consists largely of meadow mice, gophers, and uther rodents, 

 supplemented by grasshoppers, crickets and beetles, with now and then a 

 small bird. So great are its services to the rancher, and especially to the 

 hay-maker, that the owner may well count it a piece of good fortune when 

 a pair or a colony of them take up quarters in the alfalfa field. Better run 

 the mower carefull}- around every nest than to suffer the "sage-rats" to 

 continue their work of devastation. 



These birds are largely migrant, summering cliiefly to northward, and 

 wintering further south. While they do not appear to move en troupe, like 

 Blackbirds, suitable stretches of grass or tules offer a common attraction to 

 the migrants, pausing to recruit the commissariat, and as many as two or 

 three score may occasionally be seen at once hawking over a single swamp. 

 Many do, nevertheless, breed with us, especially on the East-side. They are 

 usually seen in pairs at all seasons, even during migrations, and Bendire 

 considers that they are mated for life. Housekeeping is of the humblest, 

 home being a mere sliake-down of grass somewhere upon the ground ; and 

 it is only when the nest is threatened tliat the lairds can muster "a weak 

 whistling sort of note." 



No. 184. 

 NORTHERN SPOTTED OWL. 



A. O. U. No. 369 a. Strix occidentale caurina (Alerriam). 



Synonyms. — iNlERRi.Ajr's Owl. Hoot Owl. Wood Owl. 



Description. — Adult: No ear-tufts; above rich umber-brown, round-spotted 

 in transverse rows (the remains of interrupted bars) of pale tawnv or white, 

 spotting least on head and back, pattern on wings and tail larger, but distal paired 

 spots on primaries obsolescent ; underparts heavily barred brown and whitish ; 

 wing-linings heavily spotted with dusky on a tawny ground ; facial disk gray, with 

 indistinct, dusky, concentric circles about each eye ; bill yellow ; iris yellow or 

 brown. Length: 20.00 (508) or more; wing 12.75 (323.9) ; tail 8.44 (214.4) ; bill 

 from cere .92 (23.4). 



