LAND BIRDS. 338 
spotted and barred with black; tail mainly white, but middle feathers with several blackish 
bars and the rest with one or more dark spots near tip. 
Adult female: Similar, but much darker; heavily spotted and barred, above and below, 
with dark brown or blackish, only the throat, breast and feet unmarked; tail usually 
with three or four dark bars. : 
Male: Length 20 to 23 inches; wing 15.50 to 17.30; tail 9 to 9.70. Female: Length 
23 to 27 inches; wing 17.30 to 18.70; tail 9.70 to 10.30. 
160. Hawk Owl. Surnia ulula caparoch (J/uil.). (377a) 
Synonyms: American Hawk Owl, Day Owl, Canadian Owl, Hudsonian Owl.—Strix 
caparoch, Mill., 1766.—Strix hudsonia, Gmel., Wils., Shaw.—Strix canadensis Briss.— 
Strix funerea, Rich. & Sw., Aud., Bonap.—Surnia ulula var. hudsonica, Ridgew. 
Figure 88, 
Iknown by its medium size, lack of ear-tufts, long, rounded tail, and dark 
brown-and-white-barred breast. 
Distribution.—Arctic America, breeding from Newfoundland northward, 
and migrating in winter to the northern border of the United States. 
Occasional in England. 
A winter visitor from the wooded regions of the far north, where it nests 
in April or May in hollows of trees, or in open nests of twigs and moss in 
evergreens. It lays from three to 
seven white unspotted eggs which 
average 1.51 by 1.23 inches, and 
closely resemble the eggs of the 
Short-eared Owl. 
It is one of our rarest owls, but 
like the Snowy Owl, occasionally 
appears in something like abund- 
ance. We have no record in 
Michigan of such an occurrence, 
but in October and November 
1884, a wave of these birds visited 
northern New England and scores, 
possibly hundreds, of specimens 
were taken; one taxidermist at 
Bangor, Me., receiving 28 freshly 
killed specimens within a few 
weeks (Brewster). 
It may be looked for in the 
northern third of Michigan from 
the last of October until the latter 
part of winter, but it appears to 
retire northward much earlier 
than the Snowy Owl, few if any, 
lingering later than February. 
As it hunts freely by daylight, 
and is not particularly shy, it 
should be easily recognized. It 
perches like a hawk on the top 
of some dead stub or isolated tree. Fig. 83. Hawk Owl. 
from which it watches for its prey, From photograph of mounted specimen. 
which consists mainly of mice, (Original. 
