THE GREAT GRAY OWL. 345 



117. Scotiaptex cinerea (Gmelin). 



GREAT GRAY OWL. 



Strix cinerea Gmelin, Systeraa Natuvpn, i, i, 1788, 291. 

 Scotiaptex cinerea Swainson. Classification of Birds, 11, 1S:17, 217. 



(B 53, C 3-.'2, R 309, C 474, U 370.) 



Geographical range: Northern North America, soutli iu winter to the northern 

 border of the United States. 



The breeding ratig-e of the Great Gray Owl is confined princii)ally to the 

 more northern regions of the North American continent, from the shores of Hud- 

 son Bay north to the Hmit of timlier in a1)otit latitude 68°. It is rejjorted com- 

 mon throtighotit the fur countrj' and the interior of Alaska, and has also been 

 met with by Drs. Cooper and Newberry in different parts of the Pacific coast. 

 The former observed it near the mouth of the Columbia River in June, and 

 obtained a specimen at the time, which wottld certainly indicate that it might 

 breed in the vicinity, while the latter is said to have ol^served it as far south as 

 Sacramento Valley in California, as well as in the Cascade Mountains, the Des 

 Chutes Basin, and on the Cokimbia River, in Oregon. During an extended 

 tour of <luty in various parts of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, I failed to 

 meet with this species at any time of the year. It is more or less migratory 

 during the winter, and much more alnindantly met with along our northern 

 border in some seasons tlian others. The winter of 18S9-'90 was a notable 

 instance, and quite a mimber of these birds were captured or seen in various 

 parts of the New England States. Nothing new respecting the nesting habits 

 of this Owl has been recorded within recent years. 



In the "History of Nortli American Birds," 1874 (Vol. in, pp. 32, 33), 

 it is stated: "On the 23d of May, Dr. Richardson discovered a nest of this 

 Owl built on the top of a lofty balsam poplar, composed of sticks with a 

 lining of feathers. It contained three young birds covered with whitish 

 down. * * * 



"Mr. Donald Gunn writes that the Cinereous (Jwl is to be found both 

 in summer and winter throughout all the country commonly known as the 

 Hudson Bay Territory. He states that it hunts by night, preys upon rabbits 

 and mice, and nests in tall poplar trees, usually quite early in the season." 



Mr. R. MacFarlane, in his "Notes on the Land and Sea Birds of the Lower 

 Mackenzie River District," says: "I should not say that this Owl was in 'gi-eat 

 abtmdance' in tlie Anderson River region, as inadvertently stated on page 

 33, volume iii, of tlie 'History of North American Birds.' We certainly 

 ol)tained very few specimens, and we found btit one nest (which is referred 

 to in the same paragraph), on the 19th of July, 1862, near the Lockhart 

 River on the rotite to Fort Good Hope; it was btiil't on a spruce pine tree 

 at a height of abotit 20 feet and was composed of twigs and mosses, thinly 

 lined with feathers and down. It contained two eggs and two young, botli 

 of which had lately died. The female left the nest at our approacli and flew 

 to another tree at some distance, where she was shot." 



