The evening times., 1895-08-08
Bon Marche.
TWO QUEER JERSEY OWLS.
A Puzzle to Bird E1perts-Po..,b

A Puzzle to Bird Experts-Possibiy
| Visitors From the Far North.
| Two owls were captured in New Jersey a
| few weeks ago, which are bothering bird
| experts, says the New York Sun Accord
ing to Robert Rae, of Newark, who has
been studying birds for nearly forty years,
| they are the first OF their kind found in this
| part of the country. he visited the Mu-
| seum of Natural History in this city last
week. but failed to find either specimens
liko them or O description that fitted them.
The bird that resembles them most closely
is the hawk. or arctic owl-Surnia ulula.
The owls were captured by a man living
at jackson, N. T., late in April. While
hunting In the swamps near his house, his
dog routed out the owls from under a
bush. The birds promptly made a savage
attack on the disturber of their peace and
were getting the best OF the bartIe, when
the owner OF the dog interfered with a
club II was not until he had beaten them
into insensibility that they gave up the
fight.
Never having seen anything like them,
the man carried the owls home. Some of
the neighbors examined them, but were as
iuucu III Tue udTk as tnelf OWDeT. II was
finally agreed that the birds were a cross
tween an owl and a night hawk. Both
died at the end of three weeks, probably
from starvation, and we're turned over to
Mr. r ae. who is a taxidermist at 19 Will
lam street. Newark. He at once saw that
he had secured some very rare specimens
and took unusual care In mounting them
The birds. which are male and female,
measure seventeen inches from the top of
the head 10 the tip of the tail and thirty
two inches from tip to tip OF their wings
The feathers are of a peculiar down nat
ure. like those of very young birds. The
wings and back are barred with white and
black, the white stripes presenting a mot
tied appearance. The breast is of "a pecu-
liar cream yello " and the feathers are very
thick. The head is small for the body and
has no ears or horns such as are commonly
found among owls. 1t Is striped and mot
tied. The beak is yellow and the legs and
feet are thickly feathered to the toes Un-
like the majority OF owls, they slept at
night and were active IN the daytime Their
habits and their general characteristics,
except for their marking, closely resemble
the hawk owl
Hawk owls are found In the polar regions
aud IN the northern part OF America and
Asia, but are extremely rare south OF the
Canadian line, and have been found in the
States only after severe winters. The ha wk
owl Is FROM fifteen to seventeen inches in
length, with comparatively small head and
light yellow beak. Its plumage, which is
thicker than that OF the generality of fowls,
Is OF dark-spotted brown above, and light
striped white below. The fea theirs are friuged
with delicate downy filaments. Thereare no |
visible ears, and the legs are feathere to the |
toes. Like the owls ca ptured at Jackson the |
hawk owl Is great fighter, often attack |
lug animals twice its size. 1t searches for it's |
food during the day and sleeps at night. Con- |
trary to the usual custom of owls, it builds |
its nest near the summit OF a tall tree, in
stead Of in a hollow in the trunk, or among |
the branches. Its flight Is swift, and it fire. |
queutly follows and overtakes flocl1 of |
smaller birds.