HAWK OWL. 
85 
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 ; sides 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 Avhite ; 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 Avhite, 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 fly 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 HaAvk 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. 
