A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 3. Robert Ridgway

      In the geographical variations of this species it is seen that the average plumage of North American specimens is just appreciably darker than that of European, while tropical specimens have a tendency to be still darker. I know of no bird so widely distributed which varies so little in the different parts of its habitat, unless it be the Cotyle riparia, which, however, is not found so far to the south. The difference, in this case, between the American and European birds, does not correspond at all to that between the two easily distinguished races of Otus vulgaris, Nyctale tengmalmi, Surnia ulula, and Syrnium cinereum.

      A specimen from Porto Rico (No. 39,643) is somewhat remarkable on account of the prevalence of the dusky of the upper parts, the unusually few and narrow stripes of the same on the lower parts, the roundish ochraceous spots on the wings, and in having the primaries barred to the base. Should all other specimens from the same region agree in these characters, they might form a diagnosable race. The plumage has an abnormal appearance, however, and I much doubt whether others like it will ever be taken.

      Habits. The Short-eared Owl appears to be distributed, in varying frequency, throughout North America, more abundant in the Arctic regions during the summer, and more frequently met with in the United States during the winter months. Richardson met with it throughout the fur countries as far to the north as the 67th parallel. Professor Holböll gives it as a bird of Greenland, and it was met with in considerable abundance by MacFarlane in the Anderson River district. Mr. Murray mentions a specimen received from the wooded district between Hudson’s Bay and Lake Winnipeg. Captain Blakiston met with it on the coast of Hudson’s Bay, and Mr. Bernard Ross on the Mackenzie River.

      Mr. Dresser speaks of it as common at times near San Antonio during the winter months, keeping itself in the tall weeds and grass. It is given by Dr. Gundlach as an occasional visitant of Cuba.

      Dr. Newberry met with it throughout Oregon and California, and found it especially common in the Klamath Basin. On the level meadow-like prairies of the Upper Pitt River it was seen associating with the Marsh Hawk in considerable numbers. It was generally concealed in the grass, and rose as the party approached. He afterwards met with this bird on the shores of Klamath Lake, and in the Des Chutes Basin, among grass and sage-bushes, in those localities associated with the Burrowing Owl (A. hypogæa). In Washington Territory it was found by Dr. Cooper on the great Spokane Plain, where, as elsewhere, it was commonly found in the long grass during the day. In fall and winter it appeared in large numbers on the low prairies of the coast, but was not gregarious. Though properly nocturnal, it was met with, hunting on cloudy days, flying low over the meadows, in the manner of the Marsh Hawk. He did not meet with it in summer in the Territory.

      Dr. Heermann found it abundant in the Suisun and Napa valleys of California, in equal numbers with the Strix pratincola. It sought shelter during the day on the ground among the reeds, and, when startled from its hiding-place, would fly but a few yards and alight again upon the ground. It did not seem wild or shy. He afterwards met with the same species on the desert between the Tejon Pass and the Mohave River, and again saw it on the banks of the latter. Richardson gives it as a summer visitant only in the fur countries, where it arrives as soon as the snow disappears, and departs again in September. A female was killed May 20 with eggs nearly ready for exclusion. The bird was by no means rare, and, as it frequently hunted for its prey in the daytime, was often seen. Its principal haunts appeared to be dense thickets of young pines, or dark and entangled willow-clumps, where it would sit on a low branch, watching assiduously for mice. When disturbed, it would fly low for a short distance, and then hide itself in a bush, from whence it was not easily driven. Its nest was said to be on the ground, in a dry place, and formed of withered grass. Hutchins is quoted as giving the number of its eggs as ten or twelve, and describing them as round. The latter is not correct, and seven appears to be their maximum number.

      Mr. Downes speaks of it as very rare in Nova Scotia, but Elliott Cabot gives it as breeding among the islands in the Bay of Fundy, off the coast, where he found several nests. It was not met with by Professor Verrill in Western Maine, but is found in other parts of the State. It is not uncommon in Eastern Massachusetts, where specimens are frequently killed and brought to market for sale, and where it also breeds in favorable localities on the coast. Mr. William Brewster met with it on Muskeget, near Nantucket, where it had been breeding, and where it was evidently a resident, its plumage having become bleached by exposure to the sun, and the reflected light of the white sand of that treeless island. It is not so common in the interior, though Mr. Allen gives it as resident, and rather common, near Springfield. Dr. Wood found it breeding in Connecticut, within a few miles of Hartford.

      Dr. Coues gives it as a resident species in South Carolina, and Mr. Allen also mentions it, on the authority of Mr. Boardman, as quite common among the marshes of Florida. Mr. Audubon also speaks of finding it so plentiful in Florida that on one occasion he shot seven in a single morning. They were to be found in the open prairies of that country, rising from the tall grass in a hurried manner, and moving in a zigzag manner, as if suddenly wakened from a sound sleep, and then sailing to some distance in a direct course, and dropping among the thickest herbage. Occasionally the Owl would enter a thicket of tangled palmettoes, where with a cautious approach it could be taken alive. He never found two of these birds close together, but always singly, at distances of from twenty to a hundred yards; and when two or more were started at once, they never flew towards each other.

      Mr. Audubon met with a nest of this Owl on one of the mountain ridges in the great pine forest of Pennsylvania, containing four eggs nearly ready to be hatched. They were bluish-white, of an elongated form, and measured 1.50 inches in length and 1.12 in breadth. The nest, made in a slovenly manner with dry grasses, was under a low bush, and covered over with tall grass, through which the bird had made a path. The parent bird betrayed her presence by making a clicking noise with her bill as he passed by; and he nearly put his hand on her before she would move, and then she hopped away, and would not fly, returning to her nest as soon as he left the spot. The pellets disgorged by the Owl, and found near her nest, were found to consist of the bones of small quadrupeds mixed with hair, and the wings of several kinds of coleopterous insects.

      This bird was found breeding near the coast of New Jersey by Mr. Krider; and at Hamilton, Canada, on the western shore of Lake Ontario; Mr. McIlwraith speaks of its being more common than any other Owl.

      A nest found by Mr. Cabot was in the midst of a dry peaty bog. It was built on the ground, in a very slovenly manner, of small sticks and a few feathers, and presented hardly any excavation. It contained four eggs on the point of being hatched. A young bird the size of a Robin was also