Wilson, Am. Orn., VI. pl. 51, fig. 1. Aud., B. of Am., pl. 383, octavo ed., I. pl. 37. Nat. Hist. N. Y., pl. 11, fig. 24.
Ear-tufts long and conspicuous; wings long; tarsi and toes densely feathered. Adult. Entire plumage above mottled with very dark brown (nearly black), ashy-white and fulvous, the former color, brown, predominating; breast pale fulvous, every feather with a wide longitudinal stripe of brownish-black; abdomen white, every feather with a wide longitudinal stripe, and with transverse stripes of brownish-black; legs and toes pale fulvous, usually unspotted, but in some specimens with irregular transverse narrow stripes of dark brown; eye nearly encircled with black, radiating feathers of the face in front of the eye ashy-white, with minute black lines, behind the eye deep fulvous, and narrowly tipped with black; throat white; feathers of the disc tipped with black; ear-tufts brownish-black, edged with ashy-white and fulvous; quills pale fulvous at their bases, with irregular transverse bands of brown, terminating portions brown, with yellowish, ashy, irregular bands, which are mottled with brown; inferior coverts of the wings pale fulvous, in some specimens nearly white, the larger inferior coverts widely tipped with brownish-black, forming a conspicuous transverse band on the under surface of the wing; tail brown, with several irregular transverse bands of ashy fulvous, which bands are mottled as on the quills; bill and claws dark; irides yellow. Sexes probably alike at the same ages.
Dimensions. Female.—Total length, about 15 inches; wing, 11½; tail, 6 inches. Male.—Smaller.
Hab. Northern and Eastern North America. Breeds in Pennsylvania. Hudson’s Bay (Richardson and Swainson); Canada (Dr. Hall); Oregon (Dr. Townsend); Washington Territory (Dr. Cooper); Nebraska (Dr. Suckley); Massachusetts (Dr. Emmons); Long Island (Mr. Giraud).
Obs. This is one of the commonest species of Owls in the Northern and Eastern States on the Atlantic. It much resembles the European Otus vulgaris, with which American authors have generally considered it identical, but it is larger and darker colored. It is a shy and secluded species, seldom venturing far from the woods, and appears to be a constant resident in the middle and northern States.
2. Otus brachyotus. (Forster.) The Short-eared Owl. The Marsh Owl. Strix brachyotos. Forster, Philos. Trans. London, LXII. p. 384. (1772.) Brachyotus palustris americanus. Bonap., Cons. Av., p. 51. (1849.) Otus galapagoensis. Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc., London, 1837, p. 10?
Wilson, Am. Orn., IV. pl. 33, fig. 3. Aud., B. of Am., pl. 410; Oct. ed., I. pl. 38. Nat. Hist. N. Y. Birds, pl. 12, fig. 27.
Ear-tufts very short and inconspicuous; bill short, curved, nearly concealed by projecting feathers; wings rather long, second quill longest; tail moderate; tarsi and toes densely feathered. Adult. Entire plumage buff or pale fulvous, every feather with a wide central longitudinal stripe of dark brown; under parts pale buff color, striped longitudinally with brown, more sparingly on the flanks and abdomen; legs and toes buff, usually of a deeper shade than the under parts of the body; wing-coverts and secondary quills brown, with large ovate or circular spots of pale reddish fulvous on their outer-webs; primaries pale reddish fulvous at their bases, brown at their ends, with wide irregular bars, and large spots of reddish fulvous; tail pale fulvous, with about five irregular transverse bands of brown, which color predominates on the two central feathers; outermost feathers palest; under tail-coverts nearly pure white; throat white; eyes surrounded by large black spots; radiating feathers in front of the eyes white, behind the eyes fulvous, with delicate lines of black on the shafts of the feathers; ear-tufts brown, widely edged with pale fulvous; bill and claws dark; irides yellow. Sexes alike.
Dimensions. Female.—Total length, about 15 inches; wing, 12; tail, 6 inches. Male.—Smaller.
Hab. The whole of North America and Western South America. Greenland (Prof. Holboll); Canada (Dr. Hall); Washington Territory (Dr. Cooper); California (Dr. Heermann); Chili (Lieut. Gillis); Bermuda (Sir W. Jardine); Cuba (Mr. Lembeye).
Obs. This Owl is of frequent occurrence, especially in the winter season, throughout the Eastern States of the Union, and appears to prefer meadows and marshes along the course of rivers or other streams of water. We have met with it, too, occasionally in straggling bushes in fields remote from such localities.
This bird has been almost universally considered identical with the bird known by the same name, which is found throughout Europe and Asia; but it is nearly or quite as distinct as some other American birds of this family recognised on all hands as separate species. On comparison of series of specimens of the two, it will be found that the American are larger, and for much the greater part darker colored, especially the females. The name brachyotus is, however, applicable to the American species only, having been first applied by Forster to an American specimen in his “Account of the Birds sent from Hudson’s Bay, with observations relative to their Natural History,” in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London, 1772.
We have had no facilities for comparing the stages of plumage of the young of the American and European or Asiatic species, but have no doubt they will be found to present sufficient distinctive characters. We have omitted the many synonymes of the European bird, for reasons above intimated.
Otus galapagoensis, Gould, is scarcely to be distinguished from our present bird. Admitting the genus Brachyotus, Gould, we think it very probable that the name of the present species ought to stand Brachyotus galapagoensis (Gould).
Very fine specimens of this Owl are contained in the large and highly interesting collection of birds made in Chili, by Lieut. Gilliss, of the United States Navy. It appears to inhabit the plains on the Pacific, and nearly all the specimens are of a deeper shade of fulvous than is usually met with in those of the North, though we have seen specimens of the latter precisely similar to them.