60 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



THE BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND— No. 8. 



O W L S . 



Great Horned Owl — Arctic Horned Owl — The Little Screech 

 Owl, or Mottled Owl. 



The Great Horned Owi, {Bubo Virginiamis, 

 Cuv.,) has been aptly styled an "Eagle of the 

 night, the king of the nocturnal tribes of Ameri- 

 can birds," and its aspect and dismal tones are 

 said to have struck terror into the breasts of our 

 early colonists. "Tiiis noted and formidable 

 Owl," according to Wilson, "is found in almost 

 every quarter of the United States. Ilis favorite 

 residence, however, is in the dark solitudes of 

 deep swamps covered with a growth of gigantic 

 timber ; and here, as soon as evening draws on, 

 and mankind retire to rest, he sends forth such 

 sounds as seem scarcely to belong to this world, 

 startling the solitary pilgrim as he slumbers by his 

 forest fire, 



'Making night hideous.' 



Along the mountainous shores of the Ohio, and 

 amidst the deep forests of Indiana, alone, and re- 

 posing in the woods, this ghostly watchman has 

 frequently warned me of the approach of morn- 

 ing, and amused me with his singular exclama- 

 tions, sometimes sweeping down and around my 

 fire, uttering a loud and sudden Wauyh 0! 

 Wangh 0! sufficient to have alarmed a whole 

 garrison. He has other nocturnal solos, no less 

 melodious, one of which very strikingly resem- 

 bles the half-suppressed screams of a person suf- 

 focating, or throttled, and cannot fail of being 

 exceedingly entertaining to a lonely, benighted 

 traveller, in the midst of an Indian wilderness !" 



In general, there is something in the character 

 of the Owl so solitary and mysterious, something 

 so discordant in his voice, heard only amid the 

 silence and gloom of the night, and in the most 

 lonely and sequestered situations, that peculiarly 

 affects the mind of man, and with the ignorant, 

 often gives rise to superstitious fears, an instance 

 of which is recorded by Dr. Richardson. 



"A party of Scottish Highlanders in the ser- 

 vice of the Hudson's Bay Company, happened, in 

 a winter's journey, to encamp after nightfall in a 

 dense clump of trees, whose dark and lofty stems, 

 the growth of more than one century, gave a so- 

 lemnity to the scene that strongly tended to ex- 

 cite the superstitious feelings of the Highlanders. 

 The effect was heightened by the discovery of a 

 tomb, which, with a natural taste displayed by 

 the Indians, had been placed in this secluded 

 spot. Our travellers having finished their sup- 

 per, were trimming their fire preparatory to 

 retiring to rest, when the slow and dismal notes 

 of the Horned Owl fell on the ear with a startling 

 nearness. None of them being acquainted with 

 the sound, they at once concluded that so un- 

 earthly a voice must be the moaning of the spirit 

 of the departed, whose repose they supposed they 

 had disturbed, by inadvertently making a fire of 

 some of the wood of which the tomb had been 

 constructed. They passed a tedious night of fear, 

 and with the first dawn of day, hastily quitted the 

 ill-omened spot." 



Audu1)on observes that the Great-Horned Owl 

 pairs early in February, and that during its court- 

 ships the evolutions of the male in the air, and 

 his bowings and snappings of his bill when near 

 Khe female, are extremely ludicrous to a human 



observer. The nest is a bulky structure, some 

 three feet in diameter, placed on a large horizon- 

 tal branch not far from the stem of the tree, and 

 is composed of large crooked sticks, and lined 

 with coarse grass. The eggs, three to six in num- 

 ber, are nearly round, and of a dull white color. 



"This species," observes this distinguished or- 

 nithologist, "is very powerful and equally spirit- 

 ed. He attacks wild Turkeys when half grown, 

 and often masters them. Mallards, Guinea-Fowls, 

 and common barn-fowls i)rove an easy prey, and 

 on seizing them it carries them off in its talons 

 from the farm-yards to the interior of the woods. 

 When wounded it exhibits revengeful tenacity of 

 spirit, scarcely surpassed by any of the noblest of 

 the Eagle tribe, disdaining to scramble away like 

 the Barred Owl, but facing its enemy with un- 

 daunted courage, protruding its powerful talons, 

 and snapping his bill as long as he continues in 

 its presence. On these occasions its large goggle 

 eyes are seen to close and open in quick succes- 

 sion, and the feathers of its body being raised, 

 swell out its apparent bulk to nearly double the 

 natural size." 



The Crows delight in teasing this Owl whenev- 

 er they discover it in the daytime, and it is quite 

 amusing to observe these sable orators congregat- 

 ed from the neighboring woods around a thick, 

 dark evergreen, which the Owl has selected as 

 his retreat for the day, and perched as near the 

 object of their insults as their regard for personal 

 safety will permit, uttering low, varied, sarcastic 

 gutturals, accompanied with derisive gestures, 

 protruding their clamorous throats into the face 

 of the Owl, one after another, or several at a 

 time joining in the derision, and angry rehearsal 

 of grievances ; or the whole pack at once seem 

 determined to distract the poor Owl with their 

 deafening, discordant cries, belched into the very 

 ears of their victim. At times one might suppose 

 they were twitting this nightly marauder of his 

 foul misdeeds, or deriding him for his gravity 

 and purblindness in the daytime. When in a 

 more exposed situation, the Crows will repeated- 

 ly sweep down upon him from above, one after 

 another, barely missing the Owl in their swift 

 descent, the Owl, meantime, lowering his promi- 

 nent horns as they pass over him, and in ludi- 

 crous ways attempting to dodge the blows so boldly 

 threatened by the Crows, but which they dare not 

 inflict. But at these times I have found this Owl 

 difficult to approach, especially if the day be 

 cloudy, although the Crows, appearing to divine 

 my intentions, would allow me to pass under the 

 trees on which they were sitting, though at other 

 times it is almost impossible to approach within a 

 hundred yards of them. 



A bird of this species, slightly wounded, I once 

 kept in confinement to observe its manners. He 

 never at any time exhibited the least fear, but al- 

 ways courageously resisted all attempts to handle 

 him, and when merely approached in his room, 

 would hiss, snap his bill powerfully, and erecting 

 his feathers, truly presented a formidable apjjear- 

 ance, and manifested his readiness for a combat. 

 Though carried several miles on a bright sunny 

 day, it seemed to suffer none from the light ; a 

 hen, a dog, or a cat, even at considerable dis- 

 tance, at once attracted his attention, and he 

 manifested an uneasiness to attack it, following 

 it with his eves until it was out of sight. When 



