THE GREAT GRAY OWL. 



{Scotiaptex cinerea.) 



Through Mossy and viny vistas 



Soaked ever with deepest shade, 

 Dimly the dull owl stared and stared 



From his bosky ambuscade. 



— James Whitcomb Riley, "A Vision of Summer." 



The Great Gray or Cinereous Owl is 

 the largest of the American owls. The 

 appearance of great size, however, is due 

 to its thick and fluffy plumage. Its body 

 is very small being only slightly larger 

 than those of the barred or hoot owl. 

 The eggs are also said to be small when 

 compared with the size of the bird. 



The range of this handsome Owl is 

 practically confined to the most northern 

 regions of North America, where it 

 breeds from the latitude of Hudson Bay 

 northward as far as forests extend. In 

 the winter it is more or less migratory, 

 the distance that it travels southward 

 seeming to depend solely on the severity 

 of the season. It has been captured in 

 several of the northern United States, 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans. 

 It is related in ''The Hawks and Owls 

 of the United States," that "Dr. Dall 

 considers it a stupid bird and states that 

 sometimes it may be caught in the hands. 

 Its great predilection for thick woods, 

 in which it dwells doubtless to the very 

 limit of trees, prevents it from being an 

 inhabitant of the barren grounds or other 

 open country in the north. It is crepus- 

 cular or slightly nocturnal in the south- 

 ern parts of its range, but in the high 

 north it pursues its prey in the daytime. 

 In the latter region, where the sun never 

 passes below the horizon in summer, it is 



undoubtedly necessity and not choice 

 that prompts it to be abroad in the day- 

 light." Its yellow eyes are very small 

 and would indicate day-hunting proclivi- 

 ties. 



Dr. A. K. Fisher states that its ''food 

 seems to consist principally of hares, 

 mice and others of the smaller mammals 

 as well as small birds." Dr. W. H. Dall 

 has taken "no less than thirteen skulls 

 and other remains of red-poll linnets 

 from the crop of a single bird." Speci- 

 mens in captivity are reported to have 

 relished a diet of fish. 



Its nest is described as a coarse struc- 

 ture built in the taller trees and com- 

 posed of twigs and lined with moss and 

 feathers. The note of this great bird is 

 said to be "a tremulous, vibrating sound, 

 somewhat resembling that of the screech 

 owl." 



The Great Gray Owl is also known as 

 the Great Sooty Owl and the Spectral 

 Owl. Its generic title, Scotiaptex, is 

 from two Greek words, one meaning 

 darkness and the other to frighten. 



The dignified mein of this great bird 

 may well have been the inspiration that 

 caused the poet to say, 

 Art thou, -grave bird! so wondrous wise in- 

 deed? 



Speak freely, without fear of jest or gibe — 

 What is thy moral and religious creed? 



And what the metaphysics of thy tribe? 



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