go AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



AMERICAN HAWK OWL, 



A. O. U. No. 377a. (Surnia ulula eaparoph.) 



RANGE. 



Northern North America, migrating in winter to the northern bound- 

 ary of the U. S. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Length, 15 in.; extent, 33 in.; tail, 7 in. Eye, Yellow. Feet, feath- 

 ered to the toes. Upper parts brownish, nearly black on the head, which 

 is finely spotted with white. Back and wing coverts also spotted with 

 white, and the tail is narrowly barred and tipped with light gray. Under 

 parts white, closely barred with reddish brown. Face and throat white, 

 bounded by a black crescent behind the ears and across the breast. 

 NEST AND EGGS. 



Nests either in the tops of pine trees or in the hollow of a stump. It 

 is lined with fine grasses and feathers. The eggs are laid during April, 

 the time varying with the locality. The white eggs range in number 

 from four to six. 



HABITS. 



These birds might well be regarded as the connecting link between 

 the hawks and owls. They have features that are common to both, 

 though the owl like ones predominate. They hunt as freely by day- 

 light as by night. They have the long tail of the hawk, and thus are 

 able to more closely follow their prey through the brush. They often 

 sail as the hawk does in circles, and their note resembles that of the 

 small hawks. On the other hand they have the feet and soft plumage 

 of the owl and can almost float through the air. Their food consists of 

 rats, mice, insects and birds up to the size of a partridge. They fre- 

 quent small woods and do their hunting chiefly in the mornings around 

 the meadows. They are very bold, daring, and very savage in the 

 defence of their homes. They are frequently caught in traps that are 

 set for other creatures. In winter they create great havoc among the 

 flocks of ptarmigan. But few of them cross the border to the \5 . wS. in 

 the winter. 



