Chap. 3, 



BIRDS OF VERMONT. 



^5 



THE GREAT HO]lNED OWL. 



THE CINEREOUS OWL. 



down, which becomes hairy upon the feet, 

 and nearly conceals his lonsr, black, and 

 sharp claws. Length of the specimen be- 

 fore me 27 inches ; spread of the wings 5G 

 inches ; longest quill l.j inches. 



History. — The principal residence of 

 this species of owls is in the northern- 

 most parts of both the eastern and west- 

 ern continents. It is very common in 

 Lapland, Iceland, and in the countries 

 around Hudson's Bay, and its large size 

 and thick downy plumage are well fitted 

 to resist the climate of those icy regions. 

 "In those dreary wilds, surrounded by 

 almost perpetual winter, he dwells, breeds 

 and obtains his subsistence. His white 

 robe renders him scarcely discernible 

 from the overwhelming snows where he 

 reigns like the boreal spirit of the storm. 

 His loud, hollow, barking growl, 'ichowh 

 ^ichoicli^ 'icliinch, hah, hah, hah, and other 

 more dismal cries, sound like the unearth- 

 ly ban of the infernal Cerberus, and 

 heard amidst a region of cheerless soli- 

 tude, his lonely and terrific voice aug- 

 ments rather than relieves the horrors of 

 the scene."* The Snowy Owl seeks his 

 food by day as well as by night, and in 

 the midst of winter many of them are 

 compelled to proceed to the southward 

 to procure the means of subsistence. At 

 such times they are seen, usually in 

 pairs, in various parts of the U. States. 

 They do )iot make their appearance in 

 Vermont until winter is fully set in, and 

 leave us with the earliest indications of 

 spring. They breed in the regions far to 

 the north, and are said to make their nest 

 upon steep rocks, or old pine trees, and 

 to lay two eggs, which are of a pure 

 white. They feed upon otiier birds, mice, 

 rats, and other small quadrupeds. 



THE GREAT HORNED OWL. 



Strix virginiana . — G Ji e l . 



Bubo virginiaiius. — Aud. Am. Dirils, I — 113, pi. 39. 



Description. — Bill black ; iris bright 

 yellow. Above whitish and ferruginous, 

 thickly mottled with dusky ; face ferru- 

 ginous, bounded by a band of black. A 

 whitish space between the bill and the 

 eyes. Beneatii marked with numerous 

 transverse dusky bars on a yellow and 

 white ground ; vent paler. Feet covered 

 with hair-like pale brown feathers; tail 

 rounded and broad, reaching an inch be- 

 yond the wings, mottled with brown and 

 tawny and crossed with 6 or 7 narrow 

 bars of brown ; chin whitish. Horns 

 broad, 3 inches long, formed of 1'2 or 14 

 feathers, with black webs and edged with 



Nuttall. 

 Pt. I. 



9 



brownish yellow. Length of the male 21 

 inches, female 2 inches longer. — JVutt. 



History. — This is one of the largest 

 species of American Owls, and is found 

 thronoh all the regions from the gulf of 

 Mexico to Hudson's bay. It breeds in 

 this state and in some of the unsettled 

 woody parts is quite common. Its nest, 

 which is large, is built of dry sticks and 

 lined vvith leaves and some feathers. The 

 eggs are from three to six in number, 

 about the size of those of the common 

 hen, but rounder and of a yellowish white 

 color. This owl is often called the Cat 

 Owl, from the resemblance of its face to 

 that of the cat. It confines itself mostly 

 to the retired and dark thickets of the for- 

 ests, and particularly to thickets of spruce 

 and otherevergreens, and, in many places 

 during the summer these owls ma}' be 

 heard responding to one another their 

 v:augh ho ! waugh ho ! wavgh hoo — during 

 the whole night. Their food consists of 

 various kinds of birds, hares, squirrels 

 and other quadrupeds, and they some- 

 times come around our barns, and carry 

 off our domestic fowls. These owls are 

 said sometimes to have pounced upon 

 cats, mistaking them perhaps for rabbits, 

 but finding themselves to have cauo-ht a 

 Tartar, they are generally very willing to 

 relinquish their grasp. 



THE CINEREOUS OWL. 



Strix cinerca. — Gmel. 



Syrnium cinereum. — Aud. Am. Biid.^, I— 130, pi. 35. 



Description. — Upper parts grayish 

 brown, variegated with grayish white in 

 irregular undulated markings; the feathers 

 on the upper part of the head with two 

 transverse white spots on each web ; the 

 smaller wing-coverts of a darker brown, 

 and less mottled than the back ; the outer 

 scapulars with more white on their outer 

 webs ; primaries blackish-brown toward 

 the end, in the rest of their extent mark- 

 ed with a few broad light-gray oblique 

 bands, dotted and undulated with darker; 

 tail similarly barred; ruff-feathers white 

 towards the end, dark brown in the cen- 

 tre ; disks on their inner sides gray, witii 

 black tips, in the rest of their extent 

 grayish-white with 6 bars of blackish- 

 brown irregularly disposed in a concen- 

 tric manner ; lower parts grayish-brown, 

 variegated with grayish and yellowish 

 white ; feet barred with the same. Leno-th 

 30A inches ; spread, 48. — .hid. 



History. — This is the largest species 

 of owl known in this country. It is only 

 occasionally met with in the northe.'ii 

 parts of the United States, but further 

 north it is by no means a rare bird, beintr 



