Ornithological biography, Vol. 4 (of 5)

by John James Audubon

Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXXIII.

Bill short, stout; upper mandible with its dorsal line slightly curved from the base, towards the end decurved, the ridge broad at the base, narrowed anteriorly, convex in its whole extent, the sides sloping at the base, convex towards the tip, the edges soft and obtuse as far as the nostrils, then sharp and barred to the end, below the nostrils inflected, afterwards direct, the tip acute, and at its extremity descending obliquely; the cere of moderate length, feathered on the sides; the lower mandible straight, its angle elongated, wide, and rounded, the dorsal line very short and slightly convex, the back and sides convex, the edges toward the end sharp and inflected, their outline decurved and with a slight sinus on each side, the tip obliquely truncate. Nostrils medial, lateral, large, oblique, oblong, in the fore edge of the cere, with a tough soft membrane above, and having internally a ridge curved backwards from the inner edge.

Head very large, flattened anteriorly; neck short; body very slender, but seeming large on account of the great mass of plumage. Feet of moderate length, and stout; tarsi feathered, short; toes also short, and feathered; the third and fourth connected at the base by a short web; the first shortest, and admitting of much lateral motion, the third longest, the second and fourth nearly equal. On all the toes are two terminal scutella. Claws long, curved in the fourth of a circle, tapering, extremely acute, rounded above, very narrow beneath, the first and second rounded, the rest flat; that of the fourth toe smallest, of the first slightly larger, those of the other toes much larger and nearly equal.

Plumage extremely soft and downy. The facial disks complete, and composed of circular series of weak, slender, slightly recurved feathers, having remote barbs; surrounding which is a ruff formed of several rows of oblong incurved feathers, having the barbs close. The feathers of the forehead are apparent between the ruffs, although that part is very narrow; the bill is partially concealed by the plumage; the feathers are oblong or ovate, and rounded, extremely soft, and blended, those on the tarsi and toes, small, and somewhat silky. Wings long and broad; primaries very broad, rounded, the outer a little incurved towards the end, the first sinuate on the inner web near the end, the second very slightly so; the second longest, the third a little shorter, the fourth a little longer than the first; the outer in its whole length, the second towards the end, and the first alular feather, with the barbs disunited and recurved at the ends. Tail rather short, slightly convex, a little rounded, of twelve broad rounded feathers, having feeble shafts.

Bill brownish-black, cere flesh-coloured; iris orange; claws bluish-grey, dusky towards the end. The colouring of the plumage is very intricate, but may be described as buff, mottled and spotted with brown and greyish-white. The disks are whitish anteriorly, with the tips black, posteriorly reddish-white; the ruff mottled with red and black; the upper part of the head, minutely mottled with whitish, brownish-black, and light red; the tufts light reddish toward the base, brownish-black in the central part toward the end, the inner edge white, dotted with dark-brown. The upper parts are buff, variegated with brown and whitish-grey, minutely mottled or undulatingly barred. The first row of coverts tipped with white on the outer web; the edge of the wing, and the outer margin of the first alular feather also white; the alula and primary coverts greyish-brown barred with darker; the quills and scapulars pale grey, barred with dark brown, and having more or less buff towards the base of the outer web, that colour being conspicuous on the six outer primaries. The tail is barred and mottled in the same manner, the bars very narrow, ten on the middle and eight on the outer feathers. The lower parts are in general similar to the upper, but with more buff, and fewer spots, each feather with a long dark brown streak and several irregular transverse bars. The legs and toes are pure buff. The lower surface of the wing is yellowish-white, a few of the coverts with a brown spot; the quills banded with brown towards the end. The lower tail-coverts have a narrow central brown line.

Length to end of tail 14 1/2 inches, to end of claws 14 3/4, to end of wings 15; extent of wings 38; wing from flexure 11 1/2; tail 6; bill along the ridge 1 5/12; tarsus 1 8/12; hind toe 7 1/2/12, its claw 8/12; second toe 1, its claw 9/12; third toe 1 2/12, its claw 10/12; fourth toe 8/12, its claw 7/12. Weight 8 oz.

The Female is considerably larger, and of a lighter colour than the male, but otherwise similar.

A male sent in spirits from Boston by Dr Brewer:—The roof of the mouth is flat, with two longitudinal ridges, the sides ascending; the posterior aperture of the nares oblong, 4 twelfths long, with an anterior fissure. The tongue is 7 1/2 twelfths long, deeply emarginate and papillate at the base, flattish above, with a faint median groove, the sides parallel, the tip narrowed and emarginate. The mouth is very wide, measuring 1 inch and 1 1/2 twelfth. The œsophagus is 5 1/2 inches long, of nearly uniform diameter throughout, as in all other Owls, its breadth being 1 inch. The proventricular glandules form a belt 9 twelfths in diameter. The stomach is large, round, 1 inch 9 twelfths long, 1 inch 7 twelfths broad, its walls thin, its muscular coat composed of rather coarse fasciculi, but without distinction into lateral muscles, the tendinous spaces circular, and about 8 twelfths in diameter; its epithelium soft and rugous. The duodenum is 3 twelfths in diameter, and curves at the distance of 3 inches from the pylorus. The intestine is 23 inches long, its smallest diameter only 1 twelfth. The cœca, Fig. 2, are in this individual unequal, as they very frequently are in Owls; the largest being 2 inches 10 twelfths in length, their greatest diameter 5 1/2 twelfths, their distance from the anus 3 inches and a quarter. The cloaca is of an enormous size, ovate, 2 inches long, 1 inch 2 twelfths broad. It contains a calculous concretion 9 twelfths long, 7 twelfths broad, and 3 twelfths thick.

The trachea, which is 3 inches long, is 3 1/2 twelfths in breadth at the upper part, 2 1/2 twelfths in the middle, and 3 twelfths at its lower extremity; its rings about 75 in number, cartilaginous, and considerably flattened. The lateral muscles are strong, the sterno-tracheal moderate, and there is a single pair of very slender inferior laryngeal muscles. Five of the lower rings are elongated, arched, and slit. The bronchi are rather long, of 12 half rings.