Part 25

This species was found in Texas, near Fort Davis, and also at El Paso, by Mr. J. H. Clark. It was taken in Tamaulipas, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch. Mr. Clark remarks that they were seen by him only in the prairie-dog towns, and were found in conjunction with the rattlesnake, and accuses them of feeding upon the young of the prairie-dog; but this ungrateful requital of the hospitality given them in the burrows of this marmot is discredited by Dr. Kennerly and others, who regard the apparent harmony in which the two dwell together as altogether incompatible with this habit.

This species is also found on our Pacific coast, west of the Rocky Mountains, as far north as British Columbia. Mr. Lord met with it along the entire course of the boundary-line. It was not by any means plentiful, but pairs of them were occasionally seen. While in camp at the Dalles he dug out several squirrel-holes. In one he found two eggs of this species, the female bird, a racer-snake, and a female ground-squirrel (Spermophilus douglassi). The Owl he found to be strictly of diurnal habits, feeding principally on crickets, grasshoppers, large beetles, and larvæ. He thinks it never captures small animals or birds, and regards it as a peaceful and harmless bird.

Dr. Kennerly met with this species near Los Angeles, California. At any hour of the day they might be seen seated upon the mounds erected around the holes of the marmot, or else with head protruding from its orifice, disappearing immediately when approached. When molested, they commence bowing and chattering in a somewhat ludicrous manner at the intruder, or fly swiftly away, keeping near the earth and alighting suddenly in the vicinity of a burrow to renew these amusing motions. He found it very abundant in the valley of the San Gabriel River, where it associated with the large ground-squirrel of that region.

Dr. Heermann, who found them common on the extensive open prairies, speaks of its sight as very clear by day, and adds that it will not allow the hunter on foot to approach within shooting distance; but that, if approached on a horse or a mule, it may be easily shot. The nests he found were formed of a few straws carelessly thrown together at the bottom of its tortuous burrow, which is from six to eight feet in length. The eggs were usually four in number, and are described as nearly spherical, and as pure white.

Dr. Townsend states that this Owl resorts to the forsaken burrows of marmots and badgers, but never lives on terms of intimacy with either. The nest he describes as of fine grass, and placed at the extremity of the hole. The eggs are uniformly four in number, pale white, and about the size of those of the common House Pigeon.

Dr. Gambel, who observed this bird in California, states that he has occasionally found it in solitary burrows, and also that it often makes use of the holes dug by the Spermophilus beecheyi. They occasionally dig their own burrows, and live in scattered companies of four or five. Dr. Gambel also states that the bird is a resident of California throughout the year.

Mr. Darwin, in the Zoölogy of the Beagle, met with the var. cunicularia in crossing the pampas of South America. In Banda Oriental, he says, it is its own workman, and excavates its burrows on any level spot of sandy soil; but in the pampas, or wherever the Bizcacha is found, it uses those made by that animal. It usually preys on mice and reptiles. Lieutenant Gilliss gives a similar account of it, from observations made in Chile.

Mr. Nathaniel H. Bishop met with cunicularia on the banks of the river San Juan, in Banda Oriental, where a few pairs were seen, devouring mice and insects. After crossing the river Las Vacas, and coming upon a sandy waste covered with scattered trees and low bushes, he again encountered it. Upon the pampas of the Argentine Republic they were found in great numbers, from a few miles west of Rosario to the vicinity of San Luis, where the pampas end. On these immense plains of grass it lives in company with the Bizcacha (Lagostomus trichodactylus), dwelling with it in perfect harmony, and during the day, while the animal is sleeping, a pair of Owls stand a few inches within the main entrance of the burrow, and at the first sound, be it near or distant, leave their station and remain outside the hole, or upon the mound that forms the roof of their domicile. At the approach of man, both birds, with their irides dilated, mount above him in the air, and keep up an alarm-note until he passes. Then they quietly settle down in the grass, or return to their former place. On the pampas Mr. Bishop did not observe them taking their prey during the daytime, but as soon as the sun had set, the Bizcacha and Owls both leave their holes in search of food, the young of the former playing about the birds as they alight near them. They do not associate in companies, there being but one pair to a hole. Each couple keep separate from their neighbors, and at night do not stray from their homes.

It is both diurnal and nocturnal, and feeds at all hours. Outside the town of San Juan, which lies upon the eastern base of the Andes, Mr. Bishop had a fine opportunity to watch their habits in a locality differing entirely from the pampas. The country around San Juan is a dreary desert, covered with low thorn-trees, and over this waste a few Owls are found, principally near the town itself, in the vicinity of the pastures that are cultivated by irrigation. They mate in September and October. “One evening,” Mr. Bishop writes, “I was attracted by a strange sound that I supposed proceeded from a frog, but it proved to be the love-note of a little Athene cunicularia, and which was answered by its mate. It alighted upon a post, and commenced turning around upon it, with throat dilated, and emitting a guttural sound. These antics were continued for more than a minute, it occasionally bowing its head in a mysterious manner. The female soon after joined it, and they flew away. Each night it perched upon a tall flagstaff and uttered its love-note. Close by the house was a lagoon, the borders of which were swampy, and over this a pair often hovered in search of food. I watched one that kept on the wing for nearly two hours, some fifty feet from the ground, and during that time did not change its position in any other way than by rising or falling a few feet. A boy brought me a female with five eggs, that had been taken from a burrow five feet from the mouth. The bird was very fierce, and fought me with her wings and beak, uttering all the while a long shrill note, resembling a file drawn across the teeth of a saw. I supplied her with eleven full-grown mice, which she devoured during the first thirty-six hours of her confinement. It is said to place a small nest of feathers at the end of the hole, in which are deposited five white eggs.”

The eggs of the var. cunicularia are of a rounded-oval shape, more obtuse at one end than at the other, measure 1.30 inches in length by 1.05 in breadth, and are of a uniform white color, with a slightly bluish tinge.

Strix pratincola. (See page 10.)]

The egg of the A. hypogæa is of a rounded-oval shape, equally obtuse at either end, and averages 1.35 inches in length by 1.13 in breadth, and is of a uniform clear white color. This description is taken from an egg obtained by Mr. E. S. Holden near Stockton in California. Captain Bendire writes that he has found as many as nine, and once even ten, eggs in the nest of the North American species.

NOTE.

The crania of the Owls present many features of interest, which may serve a good purpose in the definition of the sections and the genera, and to which attention has been occasionally called in the preceding pages. The tendency to asymmetry is especially marked in some species, and the better to illustrate this and other features we append several plates, in which the corresponding views are placed side by side. The figures and accompanying lettering tell their own story, without any necessity of a labored description.

R. R.

7449. Strix pratincola. Natural size. 4886. Otus wilsonianus. Natural size. 7272. Scotiaptex cinereum. Two thirds. 7899. Nyctale richardsoni. Natural size. 414. Scops asio. Natural size. 773. Bubo virginianus. Two thirds. 628. Nyctea nivea. Two thirds. 7897. Surnia ulula. Natural size. 428. Glaucidium ferrugineum. Natural size. 437. Spheotyto hypogæa. Natural size.]

7449. Strix pratincola. Natural size. 4886. Otus wilsonianus. Natural size. 7272. Scotiaptex cinereum. Two thirds. 7899. Nyctale richardsoni. Natural size. 414. Scops asio. Natural size. 773. Bubo virginianus. Two thirds. 628. Nyctea nivea. Two thirds. 7897. Surnia ulula. Natural size. 428. Glaucidium ferrugineum. Natural size. 437. Spheotyto hypogæa. Natural size.]

7449. Strix pratincola. Natural size. 4886. Otus wilsonianus. Natural size. 7272. Scotiaptex cinereum. Two thirds. 7899. Nyctale richardsoni. Natural size. 414. Scops asio. Natural size. 773. Bubo virginianus. Two thirds. 628. Nyctea nivea. Two thirds. 7897. Surnia ulula. Natural size. 428. Glaucidium ferrugineum. Natural size. 437. Spheotyto hypogæa. Natural size.]

7449. Strix pratincola. 4886. Otus wilsonianus. 7272. Scotiaptex cinereum. 7899. Nyctale richardsoni. 414. Scops asio. 773. Bubo virginianus. 628. Nyctea nivea. 7897. Surnia ulula. 428. Glaucidium ferrugineum. 437. Spheotyto hypogæa.

(All natural size.)]

12088. Nyctea nivea. (Ear copied from Swainson, F. B. A) 504. Scotiaptex cinereum. 49808. Surnia ulula. (Ear copied from Swainson.) A. Brachyotus “cassinii.” (Left ear and nostril, from fresh specimen.)]

FAMILY FALCONIDÆ.—THE FALCONS.

CHAR. Eyes directed laterally, and eyelids provided with lashes. Toes invariably naked, and tarsus usually naked and scutellate (feathered only in Aquila and Archibuteo). Outer toe not reversible (except in Pandion). Head never with ear-tufts, and never wholly naked (except in the Vulturinæ, of the Old World).

The above characters are about the only readily observable points in the external anatomy in which the Falconidæ differ strikingly from the Strigidæ and Cathartidæ, and may serve to distinguish the birds of this family from those of the two others. The osteological characters, however, as expressed on page 1328, are more decided and important in a taxonomic point of view, and serve to separate the Hawk family as a well-defined group.

In the following treatment of the North American Falconidæ, I confine that part relating to the systematic arrangement strictly to the species embraced within the province of our work, for the reason that in a forthcoming monograph of all the American species I hope to present a systematic classification based upon the species of the whole world. All preliminary details regarding the general characteristics and distinctive peculiarities of the family, as well as all discussions and generalizations upon the subject, will therefore be omitted here.

The following synopsis of the North American genera is intended as an artificial arrangement which may enable the student to identify, by simple and readily understood characters, the forms belonging to this country.

Genera.

=A.= Nasal bones almost completely ossified, the nostril being a small orifice, with a conspicuous central bony tubercle; its form nearly or quite circular, or linear and oblique (in Polyborus), with its upper end the posterior one …