84 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 217 



Strix nebulosa nebulosa Forster 



The American great gray owl, Nattak in JSTunamiut, is well known 

 in the spruce forests and is occasionally seen at the northern limits 

 of spruce between Hunt Fork and Publatuk Creek. It is not con- 

 sidered likely to pass north of timber and, like the hawk owl, is not in- 

 cluded in the avifauna of Anaktuvuk Pass. It is my opinion that this 

 owl and the hawk owl are closelj?^ attached to the forest environment. 



Asio flammeus flammeus (Pontopiddan) 



1 female May 29, 1949 weight 400 g. 



Short-eared owls, known as Nipailyutak to the Nunamiut, are regu- 

 larly seen in Anaktuvuk Valley in summer. The earliest records are 

 May 18, 1949, May 10, 1950, May 8, 1951, May 18, 1952, May 4, 1953, 

 and May 15, 1954, at Contact Creek. In 1950, the last was observed 

 September 11 at Inakpasugaruk Creek. During the summers of 1950 

 and 1951, one or two were seen frequently as if they were residents, 

 and they undoubtedly nest in the Valley. 



On one occasion, I shot at and missed a short-eared owl. As it flew 

 away, some small bird the size of a redpoll rose to attack it. At a 

 distance of about a mile, a golden plover harassed it severely and 

 when last seen, two terns were pursuing the owl out of sight. The lives 

 of these predators seem to be much disturbed by those whom they are 

 represented to oppress. 



In spring, and particularly as evening twilight develops in the late 

 summer, several of these owls are often seen together and they are 

 apparently then in migration to or from the arctic slope. 



Something about short-eared owls seems to favor their use in Nuna- 

 miut stories to exemplify human traits and characters. In one a young 

 woman who was unbearably influenced by unsatisfied sexual impulses 

 was transformed into the erratically flying owl. 



In another Nunamiut story, a short-eared owl and a Pacific loon 

 were at one time arguing as to which could first fly from the moun- 

 tains to the arctic coast. The loon asserted that he could fly much too 

 fast for the owl's company and set out in its swift linear flight, while 

 the owl floated upward on light wings until it was only a little ball 

 in the sky. Then it dove far down with the swiftness shown in its 

 short swoops over the tundra until it came to rest on the coast where 

 it was quietly waiting when the loon arrived all out of breath from 

 the labor of its direct flight. 



The Eskimos say that the short-eared owls sometimes hang their 

 small prey in the bushes as do the shrikes. 



