THE LITTLE OR ACADIAN OWL.Strix Acadica,Gmel.PLATE CXCIX. Male and Female.This lively and beautiful little Owl is found in almost every portion of the United States. I have observed it breeding in Louisiana, Kentucky, and along our Eastern States, as far as Maine, where, however, it becomes scarce, being, as it were, replaced by the Tengmalm Owl, which I have seen as far south as Bangor in Maine. It is rare in the lower parts of South Carolina, where indeed my friendBachmannever observed it.The Little Owl is known in Massachusetts by the name of the "Saw-whet," the sound of its love-notes bearing a great resemblance to the noise produced by filing the teeth of a large saw. These notes, when coming, as they frequently do, from the interior of a deep forest, produce a very peculiar effect on the traveller, who, not being aware of their real nature, expects, as he advances on his route, to meet with shelter under a saw-mill at no great distance. Until I shot the bird in the act, I had myself been more than once deceived in this manner. On one particular occasion, while walking near my saw-mill in Pennsylvania, to see that all was right there, I was much astonished to hear these sounds issuing from the interior of the grist-mill. The door having been locked, I had to go to my miller's house close by, to inquire if any one was at work in it. He, however, informed me that the sounds I had heard were merely the notes of what he called the Screech Owl, whose nest was close by, in a hollow tree, deserted by the Wood Ducks, a pair of which had been breeding there for several years in succession.I have been thus particular in relating the above circumstance, from a desire to know if the European Little Owl (Strix passerina), emits the same curious sounds. The latter is said by several authors of eminence to lay only two white eggs, while I know, from my own observation, that ours has three, four, or five, and even sometimes six. The eggs are glossy-white, and of a short elliptical form, approaching to globular. It often takes the old nest of the Common Crow to breed in, and also lays in the hollows of trees a few feet above the groundA nest of our Little Owl, which I found near the city of Natchez, was placed in the broken stump of a small decayed tree, not more than four feet from the ground. I was attracted to it by the snoring notes of the young, which sounded as if at a considerable elevation; and I was so misled by them that, had not my dog raised himself to smell at the hole where the brood lay concealed, I might not have discovered them. In this instance the number was five. It was in the beginning of June, and the little things, which were almost ready to fly, looked exceedingly neat and beautiful. Their parents I never saw, although I frequently visited the nest before they left it. The Little Owl breeds more abundantly near the shores of the Atlantic than in the interior of the country, and is frequent in the swamps of the States of Maryland and New Jersey, during the whole year. Wherever I have found the young or the eggs placed in a hollow tree, they were merely deposited on the rotten particles of wood; and when in an old Crow's nest, the latter did not appear to have undergone any repair.This species evinces a strong and curious propensity to visit the interior of our cities. I have known some caught alive in the Philadelphia Museum, as well as in that of Baltimore; and, whilst at Cincinnati, I had one brought to me which had been taken from the edge of a cradle, in which a child lay asleep, to the no small astonishment of the mother.Being quite nocturnal, it shews great uneasiness when disturbed by day, and flies off in a hurried uncertain manner, throwing itself into the first covert it meets with, where it is not difficult to catch it, provided the necessary caution and silence be used. Towards dusk it becomes full of animation, flies swiftly, gliding, as it were, over the low grounds, like a little spectre, and pounces on small quadrupeds and birds with the quickness of thought. Its common cry at night resembles that of the European Scops Owl, but is more like the dull sounds of a whistle than that of Owls generally is.In all parts of the United States where this species occurs it is a permanent resident.Strix acadica,Gmel.Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 149.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 38.—Swains. and Richards.Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. i. p. 97.Strix acadiensis,Lath.Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 65.Acadian Owl,Lath.Synops. vol. i. p. 149.Little Owl,Strix passerina,Wils.Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 61. pl. 34. fig. 2.Adult Male. Plate CXCIX. Fig. 1.Bill short, compressed, curved, acute, with a cere at the base; upper mandible with its dorsal outline curved from the base, the edges acute, the point trigonal, very acute, deflected; lower mandible with the edges acute and inflected, obtuse at the tip. Nostrils oval in the fore part of the cere. Head disproportionately large, as are the eyes and external ears, the former, however, less so than in the larger Owls. Body short. Legs of ordinary length; tarsus and toes feathered, the latter bare towards the end; toes papillar and tuberculate beneath; claws curved, rounded, long, extremely sharp.Plumage very soft and downy, somewhat distinct above, tufty and loose beneath. Long bristly feathers at the base of the bill, stretching forwards. Eyes surrounded by circles of compact feathers; auricular coverts forming a ruff. Wings rather short, broad, rounded, the fourth quill longest, the first short. Tail of ordinary length, rounded, of twelve broad, rounded feathers.Bill bluish-black, yellowish at the base. Iris light yellow. Claws bluish-black. The upper parts generally are of an olivaceous brown; the scapulars and some of the wing-coverts spotted with white; the first six primary quills obliquely barred with white; the tail darker than the back, with two narrow white bars. The upper part of the head is streaked with greyish-white, the feathers surrounding the eyes pale yellowish-grey, the ruff white, and spotted with dusky. The under parts are whitish, the sides and breast marked with broad elongated patches of brownish-red.Length 7½ inches; extent of wings 17; bill7⁄12; tarsus 1.Adult Female. Plate CXCIX. Fig. 2.The female does not differ materially from the male in colouring, but is somewhat larger.The Young, like those of other Owls, are at first covered with down, and are many weeks before they are able to fly. I have not been able to ascertain whether they raise more than one brood in the season, but am inclined to think that they do not.
Strix Acadica,Gmel.PLATE CXCIX. Male and Female.
This lively and beautiful little Owl is found in almost every portion of the United States. I have observed it breeding in Louisiana, Kentucky, and along our Eastern States, as far as Maine, where, however, it becomes scarce, being, as it were, replaced by the Tengmalm Owl, which I have seen as far south as Bangor in Maine. It is rare in the lower parts of South Carolina, where indeed my friendBachmannever observed it.
The Little Owl is known in Massachusetts by the name of the "Saw-whet," the sound of its love-notes bearing a great resemblance to the noise produced by filing the teeth of a large saw. These notes, when coming, as they frequently do, from the interior of a deep forest, produce a very peculiar effect on the traveller, who, not being aware of their real nature, expects, as he advances on his route, to meet with shelter under a saw-mill at no great distance. Until I shot the bird in the act, I had myself been more than once deceived in this manner. On one particular occasion, while walking near my saw-mill in Pennsylvania, to see that all was right there, I was much astonished to hear these sounds issuing from the interior of the grist-mill. The door having been locked, I had to go to my miller's house close by, to inquire if any one was at work in it. He, however, informed me that the sounds I had heard were merely the notes of what he called the Screech Owl, whose nest was close by, in a hollow tree, deserted by the Wood Ducks, a pair of which had been breeding there for several years in succession.
I have been thus particular in relating the above circumstance, from a desire to know if the European Little Owl (Strix passerina), emits the same curious sounds. The latter is said by several authors of eminence to lay only two white eggs, while I know, from my own observation, that ours has three, four, or five, and even sometimes six. The eggs are glossy-white, and of a short elliptical form, approaching to globular. It often takes the old nest of the Common Crow to breed in, and also lays in the hollows of trees a few feet above the groundA nest of our Little Owl, which I found near the city of Natchez, was placed in the broken stump of a small decayed tree, not more than four feet from the ground. I was attracted to it by the snoring notes of the young, which sounded as if at a considerable elevation; and I was so misled by them that, had not my dog raised himself to smell at the hole where the brood lay concealed, I might not have discovered them. In this instance the number was five. It was in the beginning of June, and the little things, which were almost ready to fly, looked exceedingly neat and beautiful. Their parents I never saw, although I frequently visited the nest before they left it. The Little Owl breeds more abundantly near the shores of the Atlantic than in the interior of the country, and is frequent in the swamps of the States of Maryland and New Jersey, during the whole year. Wherever I have found the young or the eggs placed in a hollow tree, they were merely deposited on the rotten particles of wood; and when in an old Crow's nest, the latter did not appear to have undergone any repair.
This species evinces a strong and curious propensity to visit the interior of our cities. I have known some caught alive in the Philadelphia Museum, as well as in that of Baltimore; and, whilst at Cincinnati, I had one brought to me which had been taken from the edge of a cradle, in which a child lay asleep, to the no small astonishment of the mother.
Being quite nocturnal, it shews great uneasiness when disturbed by day, and flies off in a hurried uncertain manner, throwing itself into the first covert it meets with, where it is not difficult to catch it, provided the necessary caution and silence be used. Towards dusk it becomes full of animation, flies swiftly, gliding, as it were, over the low grounds, like a little spectre, and pounces on small quadrupeds and birds with the quickness of thought. Its common cry at night resembles that of the European Scops Owl, but is more like the dull sounds of a whistle than that of Owls generally is.
In all parts of the United States where this species occurs it is a permanent resident.
Strix acadica,Gmel.Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 149.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 38.—Swains. and Richards.Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. i. p. 97.Strix acadiensis,Lath.Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 65.Acadian Owl,Lath.Synops. vol. i. p. 149.Little Owl,Strix passerina,Wils.Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 61. pl. 34. fig. 2.
Strix acadica,Gmel.Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 149.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 38.—Swains. and Richards.Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. i. p. 97.
Strix acadiensis,Lath.Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 65.
Acadian Owl,Lath.Synops. vol. i. p. 149.
Little Owl,Strix passerina,Wils.Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 61. pl. 34. fig. 2.
Adult Male. Plate CXCIX. Fig. 1.
Bill short, compressed, curved, acute, with a cere at the base; upper mandible with its dorsal outline curved from the base, the edges acute, the point trigonal, very acute, deflected; lower mandible with the edges acute and inflected, obtuse at the tip. Nostrils oval in the fore part of the cere. Head disproportionately large, as are the eyes and external ears, the former, however, less so than in the larger Owls. Body short. Legs of ordinary length; tarsus and toes feathered, the latter bare towards the end; toes papillar and tuberculate beneath; claws curved, rounded, long, extremely sharp.
Plumage very soft and downy, somewhat distinct above, tufty and loose beneath. Long bristly feathers at the base of the bill, stretching forwards. Eyes surrounded by circles of compact feathers; auricular coverts forming a ruff. Wings rather short, broad, rounded, the fourth quill longest, the first short. Tail of ordinary length, rounded, of twelve broad, rounded feathers.
Bill bluish-black, yellowish at the base. Iris light yellow. Claws bluish-black. The upper parts generally are of an olivaceous brown; the scapulars and some of the wing-coverts spotted with white; the first six primary quills obliquely barred with white; the tail darker than the back, with two narrow white bars. The upper part of the head is streaked with greyish-white, the feathers surrounding the eyes pale yellowish-grey, the ruff white, and spotted with dusky. The under parts are whitish, the sides and breast marked with broad elongated patches of brownish-red.
Length 7½ inches; extent of wings 17; bill7⁄12; tarsus 1.
Adult Female. Plate CXCIX. Fig. 2.
The female does not differ materially from the male in colouring, but is somewhat larger.
The Young, like those of other Owls, are at first covered with down, and are many weeks before they are able to fly. I have not been able to ascertain whether they raise more than one brood in the season, but am inclined to think that they do not.