THE NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY. ID/ 



Owls perched on the chimney tops of a residence on Grand 

 Boulevard, near Thirty-fifth Street in Chicago. I saw three of 

 these birds in a small grove near Park Manor, on March 16, 

 1890. Two days later a large female, probably one of the birds 

 which I had observed, was brought to me having been shot while 

 it was perched on the roof of a house in Park Manor. Records 

 of years ago show that the Snowy Owl was then much more com- 

 mon within our limits. Mr. Robert Kennicott, in his list of Cook 

 County birds,* says : "Common in winter. Last winter, during 

 the very cold and stormy weather, I frequently saw them capture 

 prairie hens." Mr. E. W. Nelson says :f "Regular winter resi- 

 dent. . More numerous in the vicinity of the Lake. Arrives in 

 November and a few remain as late as the first of May." 



The range of the Snowy Owl includes the northern portion 

 of the northern hemisphere. In North America it breeds only, 

 north of the United States, and in winter migrates southward 

 to the middle United States, or even further south in very cold 

 and stormy seasons. 



Genus SURNIA Dumeril, 1806. 



Surma ulula caparoch (Miiller). American Hawk Owl. 

 Strix caparoch MULLEB, S. N., suppl., 1776, 69. 

 Strix hudsonia GMELIN, S. N., I, pt. i, 1788, 295. 

 Surnia funerea BONAPARTE, List. 1838, 6. 

 Surnia ulula var. hudsonia COUES, Key, 1872, 305. 

 Surnia ulula caparoch STEJNEGEB, Auk, I, October, 1884, 363. 

 Popular synonyms: HUDSONIAN HAWK OWL OB DAY OWL. 



This Owl is included in our list on the strength of the follow- 

 ing records. Mr. Robert Kennicott includes it in his list of Cook 

 County birds* without comment. Mr. E. W. Nelson says:f 

 "Rare winter resident. Dr. J. W. Velie tells me that he obtained 

 a specimen in Kane County, Illinois, the first of September, 1869." 



The American Hawk Owl is a bird of the Arctic regions of 

 America, breeding from Newfoundland northward. In winter, 

 it migrates to the northern border of the United States. Its 

 occurrence elsewhere would be as a casual visitant. 



"Trans. Illinois State Agri. Society, Vol. I, 1853-1854, 581. 



tBirds of Northeastern Illinois. Bull, of the Essex Institute, Vol. VIII, 1876, 117. 



