THE HAWK OWL. 79 



nest, which they do upon every occasion that presents itself. The 

 Snowy Owl will occasionally make its nest on the large turf-hillocks 

 in some of the mosses. 



SURNIA, DUMERIL 



Surnia, DUMERIL, Zoologie Analytique, 34 (1806). 



General form rather long, but robust ; size medium ; head moderate, without ear- 

 tufts ; facial disc obsolete ; bill moderate, curved from the base, covered with pro- 

 jecting plumes; wings long; tail long, wide, graduated ; legs rather short, and with 

 the toes densely feathered; contains one species only, which inhabits the arctic 

 regions of both continents. 



SURNIA ULULA. Bonaparte. 

 The Hawk Owl; Day Owl. 



Strix ulula, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. 133 (1766). 



" Strix funerea," Gm. Bonap. Syn. 25. Nutt., I. 115. Aud. Orn. Biog., 

 IV. 550. 



" Strix Hudsonica." Wilson, VI. 64. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Wings rather long; first three quills incised on their inner webs; tail long, with 

 its central feathers about two inches longer than the outer ; tarsi and toes densely 

 feathered ; upper parts fuliginous-brown, with numerous partially concealed circular 

 spots of white on the neck behind, scapulars and wing coverts ; face grayish-white ; 

 throat white, with longitudinal stripes of dark-brown ; a large brown spot on each 

 side of the breast ; other under parts with transverse lines or stripes of pale ashy- 

 brown; quills and tail brown, with transverse bands of white ; bill pale-yellowish ; 

 irides yellow; color of .upper parts darker on the head, and the white markings 

 more or less numerous in different specimens. 



Total length, female, sixteen to seventeen inches; wing, nine; tail, seven inches. 

 Male rather smaller. 



This bird is occasionally met with in different localities in 

 New England ; rarely in the summer, most often in the 

 winter. As its name implies, it is diurnal in its habits, 

 and hunts its prey in the hours when most of the other 

 owls are hidden in their retreats. Its food consists of small 

 birds and mice, which it seizes in the manner of the hawks. 

 A specimen was obtained in Yermont on a wood-pile in a 

 door-yard, where it was eating a woodpecker that it had 

 just captured. Dr. Richardson, in his " Fauna Boreali- 

 Americana," says that, " when the hunters are shooting 

 grouse, this bird is occasionally attracted by the report of 



