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
On the 23d of May, Dr. Richardson discovered a nest of this Owl, built
on the top of a lofty balsam-poplar, composed of sticks, with a lining
of feathers. It contained three young birds, covered with a whitish
down, to secure which it was necessary to cut down the tree. While this
was going on, the parent birds flew in circles around the tree, keeping
out of gun-shot, and apparently undisturbed by the light. The young
birds were kept alive for several weeks, but finally escaped. They had
the habit, when any one entered the room in which they were kept, of
throwing themselves back and making a loud snapping noise with their
bills.
In February, 1831, as Audubon was informed, a fine specimen of one
of these Owls was taken alive in Marblehead, Mass., having been seen
perched upon a woodpile early in the morning. It was obtained by Mr.
Ives, of Salem, by whom it was kept several months. It was fed on fish
and small birds, and ate its food readily. It would at times utter a
tremulous cry, not unlike that of the common Screech-Owl (_Scops asio_),
and manifested the greatest antipathy to cats and dogs.
Dr. Cooper found this bird near the mouth of the Columbia River, in a
brackish meadow partially covered with small spruce-trees, where they
sat concealed during the day, or made short flights from one to another.
Dr. Cooper procured a specimen there in June, and has no doubt that
the bird is resident and breeds in that neighborhood. He regards it as
somewhat diurnal in its habits, and states that it is especially active
toward sunset.
Dr. Newberry speaks of this Owl as one generally distributed over the
western part of the continent, he having met with it in the Sacramento
Valley, in the Cascade Mountains, in the Des Chutes Basin, and in
Oregon, on the Columbia River. Mr. Robert MacFarlane found it in great
abundance in the Anderson River region. On the 19th of July, as we
find in one of his memoranda, he met with a nest of this species near
Lockhart River, on the route to Fort Good Hope. The nest was on the top
of a pine-tree, twenty feet from the ground. It contained two eggs and
two young, both of which were dead. The nest was composed of sticks and
mosses, and was lined thinly with down. The female was sitting on the
nest, but left it at his approach, and flew to a tree at some distance,
where she was shot.
Mr. Donald Gunn writes that the Cinereous Owl is to be found both in
summer and in winter throughout all the country commonly known as the
Hudson Bay Territory. He states that it hunts by night, preys upon
rabbits and mice, and nests in tall poplar-trees, usually quite early in
the season.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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