A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Science
A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3
Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Birds -- North America
The notes of Mr. MacFarlane supply memoranda of twelve nests found by
him in the Anderson River country. They were all placed on the ground,
in various situations. One was in a small clump of dwarf willows, on the
ground, and composed of a few decayed leaves. Another nest was in a very
small hole, lined with a little hay and some decayed leaves. This was on
a barren plain of some extent, fifty miles east of Fort Anderson, and on
the edge of the wooded country. A third was in a clump of Labrador Tea,
and was similar to the preceding, except that the nest contained a few
feathers. This nest contained seven eggs,—the largest number found, and
only in this case. A fourth was in an artificial depression, evidently
scratched out by the parent bird. Feathers seem to have been noticed in
about half the nests, and in all cases to have been taken by the parent
from her own breast. Nearly all the nests were in depressions made for
the purpose.
Mr. Dall noticed the Short-eared Owl on the Yukon and at Nulato,
and Mr. Bannister observed it at St. Michael’s, where it was a not
unfrequent visitor. In his recent Notes on the Avi-fauna of the Aleutian
Islands, (Pr. Cal. Academy, 1873,) Dall informs us that it is resident
on Unalashka, and that it excavates a hole horizontally for its
nesting-place,—usually to a distance of about two feet, the farther end
a little the higher. The extremity is lined with dry grass and feathers.
As there are no trees in the island, the bird was often seen sitting
on the ground, near the mouth of its burrow, even in the daytime. Mr.
Ridgway found this bird in winter in California, but never met with
it at any season in the interior, where the _O. wilsonianus_ was so
abundant.
The eggs of this Owl are of a uniform dull white color, which in
the unblown egg is said to have a bluish tinge; they are in form an
elliptical ovoid. The eggs obtained by Mr. Cabot measured 1.56 inches in
length and 1.25 in breadth. The smallest egg collected by Mr. MacFarlane
measured 1.50 by 1.22 inches. The largest taken by Mr. B. R. Ross, at
Fort Simpson, measures 1.60 by 1.30 inches; their average measurement is
1.57 by 1.28 inches. An egg of the European bird measures 1.55 by 1.30
inches.
GENUS SYRNIUM, SAVIGNY.
_Syrnium_, SAVIGNY, Nat. Hist. Egypt, I, 112; 1809. (Type, _Strix
aluco_, L.)
_Scotiaptex_, SWAINS., Classif. B. II, 1837, p. 216. (Type, _Strix
cinerea_, GMEL.)
_? Ciccaba_, WAGL. Isis, 1831. (Type, _Strix huhula_, DAUD.)
_? Pulsatrix_, KAUP, 1849. (_Strix torquatus_, DAUD.)
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