^ ■" MYCTALE niCHARDSONl. 331 



NYCTALE RICHARDSON!. 

 Richardson's Owl. 



Nyctale Richardsoni Bon., Udrap. List.; 1838, 7 



DESClUl'TlOxN. 



Sp. Cn. Form, short nnd compact. Size, large. Sternum, not stout. The marginal indentations are quite deep. 

 Tongue, rather thick and fleshy, horny at the tip which is rounded and slightly liifid. Ear tuft.s, very short. Uill and 

 claws, not long, the former is stout but the latter are slender. 



Color. Adult. Above, including upper wing and tail coverts, uniform greenish-brown with a narrow central line 

 of white on the feathers of the top of the head and on sides of face. Spots on head, scapularies, and wing coverts, and basal 

 portion of feathers back of neck, white. Wings, greenish-brown, spotted on the outer and inner webs of primaries and on 

 the outer webs of secondaries with white. Tail, also greenish-brown with each feather marked on both webs with five 

 pairsof white.spots. Face, white and dusky, mixed, the former color predominating around the eye, excepting in front of 

 it, and the latter on the sides of the bill and in aline to the ear tufts, which are greenish-brown streaked with white. Be- 

 neath, white, with each feather, excepting on the chin and abdomen, centrally lined with pale, reddisli-brown, but much 

 more widely on the breast. Under wing coverts, white. Under tail coverts, white, with central stripes of reddish-brown. 

 Tibia and tarsus, reddish-white, spotted with brownish. Iris and soles of feet, yellow, claws, dark-brown, cere and bill, 

 greenish, in all stages. Sexes, similar in color. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Specimens are quite uniform in coloration. Readily known, in the adult stage, from the preceding sjiccies by the green- 

 ish-brown color; in all stages, by the live bars of spots on the tail, and from all others, by thesmallsize, absence of any pnjm- 

 inent ear tufts, together with the color as described. Distributed, a.s a constant resident, throughout North America to 

 the Arctic Circle. Bare in New England during winter. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of male specimens from New England. Length, 9'00; stretch, 20'00, wing, fi'OO; tail, 3-02; bill, 

 •fiS; tarsuti, •93. Longest s])ecimen, lO'OO; greatest extent of wing, 21*00; longest wing, 6-50; tail, 3'52; bill, ■'i'2\ tarsus, 

 1-03. Shortest S])ecimen, 8-22; smallest extent of wing, 19-00; shortest wing, .5-50; tail, i-Si'i; bill, -52; tarsus, -83. 



Average mcisurements of female specimens from New England. Length, lO'OO; stretch, STOO: wing, fi-75: tail, 3-52: 

 bill, -74: tarsus, 1-02. Longest specimen, ll'OO: greatest extent of wing, 22-00: longest wing, 7-00: tail, 4-00: bill, -84; tar- 

 .sus, 1-12. Shortest specimen, 9-0(): smallest extent of wing, 20-00; shortest wing, 6-00: tail, 2-98: bill, 04: tarsus, -92. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed in holes of trees, composed of grass, leaves, etc., or the eggs are placed on any loose material that chances 

 to lie at the bottom of the hole. 



E(j(js, four or five in number, rather spherical in form, pure white in color, with the surface very smooth. Dimensions 

 from 1-06x1-28 to 1-10x1-32. 



HABITS. 



Richardson's Owl, although very common in the woods of Canada and northward, is, 

 beyond doubt, one of the rarest of the order in the United States, only visiting the extreme 

 northern portions during winter. They are not very uncommon in Maine and Northern 

 New llampshii'e at this season but are very rare in Massachusetts, whei'e only a few spec- 

 imens have ever been taken. A male was, however, obtained in Newton on the twenty- 

 .si.Kth of February of the present year, 1879, by the Bangs Brothers who saw it hanging, 

 dead, to a bush by the road side, near a house, as they were passing. Upon inquiry, they 

 found that it had been shot some time previous by the owner of the place, who supposed 

 it to be a Hawk and said that it had been killing his hens. South of us, this bird may be 

 regarded as a rare straggler but has been taken once in Connecticut. 



I have never been so fortunate as to meet with this species living, but writers describe 

 ^ts habits as Iieiug similar to those of the Acadian Owl and .say that it has a pt-culiar note. 



