HAWK OWL. 86 



The male of this species is fifteen inches long; the bill orange 

 yellow, and almost hid among the feathers ; plumage of the chin curv- 

 ing up over the under mandible ; eyes bright orange ; head small ; face 

 narrow, and with very little concavity ; cheeks white ; crown and hind- 

 head dusky black, thickly marked with round spots of white ; gides of the 

 neck marked with a large curving streak of brown black, with another a 

 little behind it of a triangular form ; back, scapulars, rump and tail- 

 coverts, brown olive, thickly speckled with broad spots of white ; the 

 tail extends three inches beyond the tips of the wings, is of a brown 

 olive color, and crossed with six or seven narrow bars of white, rounded 

 at the end, and also tipped with white ; the breast and chin are marked 

 with a large spot of brown olive ; upper part of the breast light, lower, 

 and all the parts below, elegantly barred with dark brown and white ; 

 legs and feet covered to, and beyond the claws, with long whitish 

 plumage, slightly yellow, and barred with fine lines of olive ; claws 

 horn color. The weight of this bird was twelve ounces. 



The female is much darker above ; the quills are nearly black, and 

 the upper part of the breast is blotched with deep blackish brown. 



It is worthy of remark, that in all Owls that iiy by night, the 

 exterior edges and sides of the wing quills are slightly recurved, and 

 end in fine hairs or points ; by which means the bird is enabled to pass 

 through the air with the greatest silence, a provision necessary for 

 enabling them the better to surprise their prey. In the Hawk Owl 

 now before us, which flies by day, and to whom this contrivance would 

 be of no consequence, it is accordingly omitted, or at least is scarcely 

 observable. So judicious, so wise and perfectly applicable, are all the 

 dispositions of the Creator. 



