394 



LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



According to Mr. Turner, it is a very common resident in the Yukon dis- 

 trict, and also quite abundant, near the coast. He says: "They usually seclude 

 themselves in the willow or alder patches, and are frequently startled from some 

 -lass-covered bank of a lake; they fly equally well by night or by day. I 

 once observed a bird of this species sitting during a bright day on a post, and 

 approached to within a few feet of the bird; it squatted, then stood up, and 

 seemed ready to fly at any moment; I went within 6 feet of it, and it then 

 settled down as if to take a nap; I retired and threw a stick at it to make it 

 fly; I shouted and made other noises, and only after several attempts to dis- 

 lodge it did it fly. When taking flight from an elevated position they invaria- 

 bly drop to within a few feet of the earth and sail away rapidly." 1 



.Mr. W. II. Dall, of the U. S. Coast Survey, found a nest of this species, 

 containing six eggs, on the top of an old birch stub about 15 feet from the 

 ground, near Nulato, Alaska, May 5, 1868. The eggs were lying directly 

 on the rotten wood, and the male was sitting on them. Climbing to the nest, 

 the bird dashed at him and knocked off his cap. These eggs are now in the 

 U. S. National Museum collection. 



Mr. R. MacFarlane says: "The Hawk Owl is not uncommon in the 

 region of Anderson River. Four nests of this species were discovered and 

 the eggs taken therefrom. All of these were built in pine trees at a consid- 

 erable height from the ground. One was actually placed on the topmost 

 boughs, and, like the others, constructed of small twigs and sticks, and lined 

 with hay and moss. This nest contained two young birds, one apparently 

 ten days and the other three weeks old, together witli an addled egg. Two 

 of the other nests contained six eggs and one seven. The parents always 

 disapproved of our proceedings." 2 



One of these nests was found on April 28, another on May 2, and 

 the one containing young on June 20, 1863. A single egg, taken by Mr. 

 MacFarlane, near Fort Providence, Great Slave Lake, on April 14, 1885, 

 shows that the American Hawk Owl breeds very early, even in high latitudes, 

 and that some winter there also. 



According to Mr. B. R. Ross, it nests occasionally in cliffs, but its usual 

 nesting sites are probably natural cavities in trees, where they are obtainable, 

 but when such are wanting open nests placed on the decayed tops of stumps 

 or among the limbs of thick avid bushy conifers are used. 



Mr. Turner found the American Hawk Owl to be rare in southern Lab- 

 rador. In his "Notes on the Birds of Labrador and IJngava," he says: "In 

 the latter part of June, 1884, an Indian brought me two young of this species 

 just emerging from the downy stage and not yet able to fly. As I desired 

 to make a study of these young birds I kept them for several days and ted 

 them on the carcasses of birds, mice, and young Ptarmigan. The quantity 

 of food which these small Owls could dispose of was astonishing. They 



1 Contributions to the Natural History of Alaska, l-Wi',, Vol. n, p. l(i. 



'From K. MacFarlano's Mannscript Notes on Land and Water Birds Nesting in British America. 



