The European I-1awk-0wl American Hav/k Owl. hi 



examples of the European race may be expected to appear occasionally on our 

 eastern coasts through some chance when tlic Ijirds are migrating. 



As its name denotes, the Hawk-Owl comes near to the Falcojiida ; it has a 

 long, graduated, tail ; short, sharp, wings ; only incomplete facial disks ; smaller 

 ears than the night Owls, without an operculum, and flies abont swiftly like a 

 Hawk in the day-time, roosting in a tree at night. Its plumage is clo.ser and 

 more compact, and less downy, than that of other Owls. It is an abundant species 

 in the pine woods in Lapland, and Wheelwright has given a good description of 

 its habits. He says : — " The Hawk-Owl is by no means shy, and in the breeding 

 season it is one of the boldest of all birds. Seated on the top of a dead pine, 

 close to the nest where his mate is sitting, the old male bird keeps a constant 

 watch, and as soon as any one appears to be approaching the nest, he raises his 

 tail and head, after the manner of the Cuckoo, and uttering a shrill cr^', not 

 unlike that of the Kestrel Ha-wk, down he comes full on the head of the intruder; 

 dashing by with the speed of lightning, he returns to the charge again and again, 

 till he has either cleared the coast, or has paid the penalt}' of his rashness with 

 his life. My lad was reall}^ frightened at this bird, and always hated to go up 

 to a nest ; and well he might, for on one occasion, when taking the eggs out of 

 a dead pine, without a branch to help him, holding on, as the sailors sa}-, ' b)'- 

 his eyelids,' forty feet from the ground, the old bird made a swoop down on his 

 head, struck off his cap (through the top of which a large slit was cut) and in a 

 moment returned to the charge, tearing off a very fair-sized claw-full of his hair. 

 I was standing below, and knocked the old bird over ; and had I not been at the 

 bottom of the tree with mj' gun, the lad might easih- have been beaten off his 

 hazardous perch. There is no trouble in shooting the Hawk-Owl if vou have 

 only a dog in the forest ; for, whatever time of year it may be. as soon as ever 

 the bird spies a dog below him, it always descends to give battle. 



" The range of the Hawk-Owl in the north is preciseh- that of the Siberian 

 Ja}- fGai-rulus. infanstusj — the lower fir forests at the foot and by the sides of the 

 fells ; you never, by any chance, meet with them out of the fir forests. In flight, 

 manners, and appearance, the Hawk-Owl is closeh' allied to the Hawks. It is 

 strictly diurnal in its habits, and to the stealthy quiet flight of the Owl adds the 

 spirit and courage of the Falcon. Hardty a forest bird is safe from the attacks 

 of these Owls. I have seen them strike dowoi the Siberian Ja}-, their closest 

 neighbour, on the wing, and more than once have I disturbed them feeding on 

 an old Willow- Grouse, a bird half as large again as themselves. Their principal 

 food appears to be birds, lemmings, and wood-mice ; but I have often taken 

 insects out of their stomachs. There is little difference in the plumage of the 



