OWL. 



375 



Their colours are black at the bases and in the middle, 

 and dull yellow at the edges. The irides are vivid yel- 

 low ; the inside of the circle of the face is white, and the 

 cheeks are of a rusty colour. At the internal angle of 

 the eye there is a streak of black ; the bill is blackish 

 horn-colour ; the forehead and crown are dark brown, 

 speckled with minute spots of white and pale rusty 

 colour ; the outside circle of the face is black, and 

 finely marked with small curving white spots ; the 

 back and wings are dark brown, sprinkled and spot- 

 ted with white, pale, ferruginous, and dusky ; and the 

 primaries are barred with brownish-yellow and dusky, 

 darkening towards the extremities ; the secondaries 

 are more elegantly barred, and sprinkled with similar 

 markings ; the tail is of the same length as the wings, 

 rounded at the extremity, and finely barred and mar- 

 bled with dull white and pale rust-colour on a deep 

 brown ground; the breast and throat are beau- 

 tifully clouded with cream, black, white, and rusty ; 

 and the belly is finely streaked with large arrow-heads 

 of black ; the thighs and legs are plain pale rust, fea- 

 thered to the claws, which are large and sharp, and of 

 a blue-black colour ; the insides of the wings are 

 brownish-yellow, and there is a large spot of black at 

 the root of the first quills. 



Both in the old continent and in America these 

 birds are fond of possessing themselves of the nests 

 of others. It is only in particular situations that they 

 dispossess the common rook, because the nests of 

 rooks are usually too much exposed for suiting the 

 habits of the owls. The magpie has its nest in places of 

 greater concealment than the rook ; and, therefore, 

 though it makes a little show of fight, and a vast deal 

 of chattering, it must sometimes resign its castle to 

 the more powerful arms of its downy invader. Wilson 

 found one that had taken possession of the nest of a 

 night heron in a swamp near Philadelphia ; but, 

 alter it had once taken possession, it does not appear 

 to have offered much violence to the noisy colony, 

 for a night heron continued to sit in another nest 

 upon the same tree. In many places this conduct of 

 the long-tufted owl is quite harmless to the other 

 birds, inasmuch as their young have quitted the nest 

 before it comes to take possession. The average of 

 the eggs is about four, and never more than six ; 

 they are perfectly white, and nearly spherical. The 

 young remain a long time in the nest ; and, for some 

 time after they have quitted it, they continue on the 

 branches, so that the finding of food for them is a 

 great labour to the parent birds. They very early 

 evince a pugnacious disposition, by hissing and snap- 

 ping with the beak, ruffling the feathers, and making 

 themselves as ugly as possible. The old ones are 

 also pugnacious ; and, if their wings are crippled, 

 they throw themselves on the back, and fight stoutly 

 with beak and claws. 



THE BARRED OWL (8. nebulosa) is an American 

 species, bearing some slight resemblance to the one 

 last mentioned, only it is without tufts on the head, 

 differs in colour, and approaches in many respects to 

 the hawk-owls. They nestle in trees, though not so 

 much in the depth of the forests as the tufted owls. 

 They are consequently more seen, and probably also 

 more numerous. Their nests are rudely built ..of 

 sticks, and concealed among thick foliage. Their 

 eggs are large, and, like the rest, white. The female 

 bird differs more in size from the male than in most 

 species of animals, being sometimes nearly one half 

 longer. These are more diurnal than the tufted 



owls, often flying about during the day, and uttering 

 a cry resembling that of the hawk. They sometimes 

 seize partridges and young rabbits ; but mice are their 

 staple supply, and in the capture of these they render 

 some service to the farmers. The male bird is 

 described as being about sixteen inches in length, 

 and thirty in the stretch of the wings. The upper 

 parts of the body are of a pale brown colour, spotted 

 with transverse markings of white ; the wings are 

 crossed with alternate bars of pale brown, rather 

 darker in tint than the upper parts ; the head is very 

 large, smooth, and mottled with spots of white, dark, 

 and pale brown, which extend transversely ; the eyes 

 are dark blue, large, and the pupil is not visible ; the 

 face, or radiated circle of the eyes, is grey, encircled 

 by a margin of white and brown spots ; the bill is of 

 a yellow ground, tinged with green ; and the breast 

 is transversely barred with brown and white bands ; 

 long streaks of brown, on a yellowish ground, extend 

 lengthwise along the belly ; the vent is yellowish 

 white, and the thighs and legs are of the same colour, 

 and feathered nearly to the claws, which are remarkably 

 sharp, and of a dark horn-colour ; the tail is rounded, 

 crossed with six broad bars of brown, and a like 

 number of narrow white, and curved below ; the 

 back and shoulders are of a chestnut colour ; at each 

 angle of the eye there is a broad speck of black ; 

 long black hairs terminate the plumage of the 

 radiated circle round the eye ; and the bill is sur- 

 rounded by others of a more bristly texture. The 

 female bird is about twenty-two inches long, and 

 four feet in the stretch of the wings. The chief 

 difference in colour from the male bird is, purer 

 brown on the scapulars, more white on the wings ; 

 the tail is also longer, the bill much larger, and of a 

 finer yellow. In treating of this species, Wilson 

 gives so beautiful a description of the various feathers 

 upon owls, that it ought to be known by every reader, 

 now that the observation of birds, in a state of 

 nature, has become so very general. " The different 

 character of the feathers of this, and, I believe, of 

 most owls," says Wilson, " is really surprising. Those 

 that surround" the bill differ little from the bristles ; 

 those that surround the region of the eye are exceed- 

 ingly open and unwebbed.; these are bounded by 

 another set, generally proceeding from the external 

 edge of the ear, of a most peculiar small, narrow, 

 velvety kind, whose fibres are so exquisitely fine 

 as to be invisible to the naked eye ; above, the 

 plumag6 has one general character at the surface, 

 calculated to repel rain and moisture ; but, towards 

 the roots, it is of the most soft, loose, and downy 

 substance in nature, so much so, that it may be 

 touched without being felt ; the webs of the wing- 

 quills are also of a delicate softness, covered with an 

 almost imperceptible hair, and edged with a loose 

 silky down, so that the owner passes through the air 

 without interrupting the most profound silence." 



THE SHORT-TUFTED OWL (S. brachyotos). This 

 species is very different in its characters from the 

 long-tufted one, and also from the barred owl of 

 America ; and it follows more on the character of 

 the eagle-owl, though it is not near: so jarge, nor 

 quite so northerly in its geographical position. Its 

 plumage altogether is shorter and firmer than that 

 of the others, and it is weightier in proportion to its 

 size. It is found on both continents, though perhaps, 

 as is usual, it differs a little in colour, and it is more 

 a woodland bird in. America than in the east. This, 



