Great horned owl

“ In this manner falls many a Great Horned Owl on our frontiers, where the species abounds.
Differences of locality are no security against its depredations, for it occurs in the highest mountainous districts, as well as in the low alluvial lands that border the rivers, in the interior of the country, and in the neighbourhood of the sea-shore. Every where it finds abundance of food. It is, moreover, an extremely hardy bird, and stands the severest winters of our northernmost latitudes. ”

“ One or two of these magnificent birds can generally be found on any thorough search of the Neck. They hunt the Neck by night, taking a great toll of mice and other small animals. The Great Horned Owl nests earlier than any other New England bird, usually in February or March. So early, in fact, it occasionally returns from a hunt to find its nest and eggs covered with snow. A Great Horned can often be located during the day by following the sound of a noisy flock of Crows. These birds spend hours screaming and scolding Owls whenever they find one sleeping during the day. ”

“ Due to their habits they have few enemies, the great horned owl being one. Very wide awake at night, he often catches an unsuspecting bat, chews the flesh, letting the bones drop to the ground where they remain as evidence of the owl's dinner. ”

“ Owls have a way of hiding from notice by making believe they are something besides owls. They can move their feathers so as to change their looks entirely. The great horned owl sometimes makes himself a frightful mass of feathers a yard wide, and at other times he seems to be a very slim bird, too thin for an owl. ”

“ The Great Horned Owl was a very large bird. His whole body was covered with brown, dull yellow, and white feathers. Even his feet and legs were covered, and all that you could see besides were his black claws and his black hooked bill. Yes, at night you could see his eyes, too, and they were wonderful great eyes that could see in the dark, but they [Pg 23] were shut in the daytime when he was resting. His wife, who was the queen of the forest at night, looked exactly like him, only she was larger than he. And that is the way among Owls,—the wife is always larger than her husband. ”

“ Sometimes, frightened by the reverberating report of a gun, they would creep among the rocks, attempting to conceal themselves, and be thus taken alive.
Though frequently kept in captivity, the Great Horned Owl, even when taken young, is fierce and untamable, resenting all attempts at familiarity. It has no affection for its mate, this being especially true of the female. Mr. Downes mentions an instance within his knowledge, in which a female of this species, in confinement, killed and ate the male. Excepting during the brief period of mating, they are never seen in pairs. ”

“ It is stated there that any owl may be used, but that the great horned owl is the usual bait:—“The owl, confined between two wooden stands or rests, is taught to fly from one rest to the other without touching the ground. Between the rests, a cord is stretched, on which a ring plays, and to which another slacker cord is attached by one end, the other being fastened to the jesses on the legs of the owl, whose movements are thus confined to flying from one block or rest to the other. ”

“ There are upwards of sixty species of owls widely spread over almost every part of the known world; of these we may count not fewer than eight as more or less frequenting this country. One of the largest of the tribe is the eagle hawk, or great horned owl, the great thickness of whose plumage makes it appear nearly as large as the eagle. Some fine preserved specimens of this noble-looking bird may be seen in the British Museum. It is a most powerful bird; and a specimen was captured, with great difficulty, in 1837, when it alighted upon the mast-head of a vessel off Flamborough-head. ”

“ Another (11,792, Simiahmoo, Dr. C. B. Kennerly) from Washington Territory has the black even more prevalent than in the last, being almost continuously uniform on the scapulars and lesser wing-coverts; beneath the black bars are much suffused. In this specimen the rufous tinge is present, as it is in all except the Labrador skin.
Habits. The Great Horned Owl has an extended distribution throughout at least the whole of North America from ocean to ocean, and from Central America to the Arctic regions. ”

“ There are about 18 species of owls in North America; varying in size from the six-inch elf owl of Arizona to the great gray owl of the Arctic — over two feet in length. The latter bird, while always rare in the United States, is occasionally seen as far south as the Ohio River. There are four of the so-called horned owls: the long-eared, short-eared, great-horned and the screech-owl. The great-horned is a large, fierce member of the family, and does much to give the family as a whole a bad. ”

“ A rabbit, a weasel, a mink, or even a skunk is good eating for the owl. And there are times when one owl will make a meal of another owl of smaller size. A large red-tailed hawk was once put into a garret where there was a snowy owl. That night the hawk was killed and partly eaten by the owl. A tame great horned owl and a little screech owl were shut up in a hay loft together. The wings of the big owl were cut so he could not fly. After about a week they both became one owl, and that owl threw up the claws, beak, bones, and feathers which had once been useful to the little screech owl. ”

“ In reply to an inquiry, we promptly pronounced it a young barn-owl; but its owner was piqued at the idea that anybody should have seen its like before.
2. The sub-family Buboninœ, the eared or horned owls, are so called because of a pair of feathery, ear-like tufts, which are so set upon the head as to have earned for these birds the general name, cat-owls. Their facial disk is not quite perfect. The most famed bird of this group is the great horned-owl (Bubo Virginianus, Bonap.) (see Fig. 3) . This bird has usually a white collar round the neck. It is truly ”

“ Newton. Short-eared Owl.—A female, taken Oct 7, has the ground-color of the plumage, both above and beneath, rich, almost rusty, ochraceous; the markings, also, are unusually dark and broad. Three males represent the other extreme, their coloring, especially beneath, being remarkably pale and almost free from any ochraceous tinge.
36. Bubo virginianus saturatus [111] Ridgw. Dusky Horned Owl.—During the autumn of 1881 Great Horned Owls were unusually abundant 230about Fort Walla Walla, and Capt. Bendire secured no less than fourteen specimens, of which twelve are now before me. ”

“ They have a very rough nest, merely a platform of pine-twigs thrown together in the fork of a fir-tree; but they are hardy little birds, and do not mind that at all. Close by is a monster owl, called the great eagle owl. He has bright yellow eyes, with very large pupils as black as jet; his tail is spread like a turkey-cock's, and altogether he looks very terrifying. You would not like to meet him alone if you had made him angry, for he is as large as a fair-sized dog, and his ugly claws and savage beak would make short work of your soft face and bright eyes. ”

“ Among these, the largest is the great eagle owl, which is found in Europe. Its home is among the deep recesses of mighty forests, and the clefts of rocks amidst the mountains. From its lonely retreat, where it reposes in silence during the day, it issues forth, as the dusk of evening throws a yet deeper gloom over the dark pine forest or rocky glen, to prowl in quest of prey. On silent wing it skims through the wood, and marks the fawn, the hare, or the rabbit nibbling the herbage. Suddenly wheeling, it sweeps upon the unsuspecting victim, and, if not too large, bears it off in its talons. ”

“ The Western Horned Owl breeds nearly throughout its range. It is of interest that this Owl is not an inhabitant of high altitudes but rather of the foothills and more open country of its range. The Dusky Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus saturatus) , the darkest colored of all the owls, taking its place in the higher regions.
In its habits it is closely related to its eastern relative. It has a similar call note and is as destructive. It feeds on grouse and ducks as well as other species of valuable food water-birds. It also kills many forest birds that are useful to man as insect destroyers. ”

“ Though mainly nocturnal, Owls are sometimes seen hunting for their prey by day. As they feed mostly on mice, rats, and insects, they are very valuable birds. The feathers are very soft, with a weak central axis, so that no sound is made when flying. They are thus able to approach their prey without giving warning. The Powerful Owl well deserves its name, as it possesses great strength, and is a formidable enemy if wounded. However, Owls are, fortunately, seldom shot at.
Like Hawks, Owls catch their prey with and carry it in their feet, unless the feet are required for climbing. ”

“ The strange, melancholy expression of the bird’s face, its peculiarly awkward, long legs, and its odd habit of bowing, hissing, and swaying back and forth, all make it an object of great curiosity.
The Barn Owl can see perfectly by day, though it is chiefly nocturnal. It preys upon rats, mice, and shrews principally, and is almost altogether beneficial in its food-habits. All Owls have the habit of throwing up wads of indigestible matter, such as the bones and fur of the mice they have eaten. ”

“ Poke a stick into a knothole and stir up the leaves at the bottom of the cavity, and then look in. Two great yellow eyes may greet you, glaring intermittently, and sharp clicks may assail your ears. Reach in with your gloved hand and bring the screech owl out. He will blink in the sunshine, ruffling up his feathers until he is twice his real size. The light partly blinds him, but toss him into the air and he will fly without difficulty and select with ease a secluded perch. The instant he alights a wonderful transformation comes over him. ”

“ They place it on the top of a long pole, and carry it into the fields, where they plant the pole in the ground. This Owl has a curious habit of swaying its body backwards and forwards, and is sure to attract the notice of all the small birds in the neighbourhood. It is well known that the smaller birds have a peculiar hatred to the Owl, and never can pass it without mobbing it, assembling in great numbers, and so intent on their occupation that they seem to be incapable of perceiving anything but the object of their hatred. Even rooks, magpies, and hawks are taken by this simple device. ”

“ The snowy owl, a beautiful bird either pure white or barred with black, nests in the north and visits the United States in winter. It is a day owl. It feeds on fish, birds, small mammals etc. The burrowing owl is a small western owl living in the holes of prairie dogs. It is a savage little creature, a great fighter, these owls frequently killing each other. They feed largely on grasshoppers, locusts, and other insects. Their color is mixed gray, their legs long and bare. See Hornaday: American Natural History. ”

“ Never take a bird that is higher up in the tree than any other. If you do you get no more. The rest will at once fly away.”
Another bird that remains all winter in those cold North Lands is the great snow-white owl. His wonderful covering of feathers, even down to the toes, enables him to defy the severest frost. He generally sleeps by day in some dense balsam tree, and then is ready, when the sun goes down, for his nightly raids upon the rabbits and partridges. ”

“ The Barn Owl sees in a greater degree of darkness than the others; and, on the contrary, the Horned Owl is enabled to pursue his prey by day, though with difficulty. Owls are sometimes tamed by persons in the country, who carefully rear them in a domestic state, from their propensity to chase and devour mice and other vermin, of which they clear the houses with as much address as cats. The Owl is a solitary bird, and is said to retire into holes in towers and old walls in the winter, and pass that season in sleep. ”

“ By day it keeps well hidden in some deserted woodpecker's hole or a hollow in some old orchard tree, which is its favourite residence; but some mischievous little birds, with sharper eyes than ours, often discover its hiding place, wake it up, and chase it, blinking and bewildered, all about the farm. By night, when its tormentors are asleep, this little owl goes forth for its supper, and then we hear its weird, sweet, shivering, tremulous cry. Because it lives near our homes and is, perhaps, the commonest of the owls all over our country, every child can know it by sound, if not by sight. ”

“ As owls work on silent wing at night, they escape the attentions of the crows and the notice of the average human being. The nocturnal birds of prey of which nests are likely to be found in January are the brown fish-owl (Ketupa ceylonensis) and the rock and the dusky horned-owls (Bubo bengalensis and B. coromandus) . The dusky horned-owl builds a stick nest in a tree, the rock horned-owl lays its eggs on the bare ground or on the ledge of a cliff, while the brown fish-owl makes a nest among the branches or in a hollow in the trunk of a tree or on the ledge of a cliff. ”

“ All these birds were comprehended by Linnæus under the generic name of Strix, but later naturalists have subdivided them into several genera, dependent on the size of the ears and of the ocular discs, on the presence or absence of two remarkable tufts of feathers on the head having somewhat the appearance of horns, and on the covering of the legs and feet. The Virginian Horned Owl is spread over nearly the whole continent of America from north to south. ”