84 ALLEN'S naturalist's LIBRARY. 



and I have heard it from the hotel at Buyukdere, on the Bos- 

 phorus, when, with window wide open, the heat made it still 

 more difficult to pass the night in happy unconsciousness even 

 of ornithological sounds." By most observers the note is said 

 to be "kill," whence its scientific name of gm. 



The Small Tufted Owl comes back to Europe in March, 

 and migrates south again in September and October, though a 

 few remain in Southern Spain during the winter, as Colonel 

 Irby has observed them in January. 



Nest. — Little or none, as with most Owls. The site generally 

 selected by this little species is a hole in a wall, or more often 

 in a hollow tree, where the nest, such as it is, is principally 

 composed of the castings of the old birds. 



Eggs. — Five or six in number ; pure white and nearly round. 

 Axis, I '2-1 "3; diam., i"i-i"i5. 



THE SNOWY OWLS. GENUS NYCTEA. 



Nyctea, Stephens, Gen. Zool. xiii. pt. 2, p. 63 (1826). 



Type, Nyctea nycfea (L.). 



The genus Nyctea contains but one species, the great 

 Snowy Owl, which is easily recognised by its white plumage 

 and its thickly-feathered toes. Its dense plumage shows that 

 it is an inhabitant of the Arctic Regions, and it is, moreover, a 

 day Owl, like its smaller relation, the Hawk-Owl (Si^r/iia). It 

 differs from the Eagle-Owls in the small size of the "ear-tufts," 

 and in most individuals these are so small as not to be dis- 

 tinguished from the general plumage of the head, so that, as a 

 rule, the Snowy Owl is classed as one of the un-tufted series 

 of Owls. A specimen from Archangel in the British Museum, 

 however, shows that ear-tufts are sometimes present, and I 

 believe that I was the first to draw attention to this fact in the 

 " Catalogue " of the S friges in the British Museum (Cat. B, 

 ii. p. 125). 



Only one species of the genus Nyctea is known, inhabiting 

 the northern regions of the Old and New Worlds. 



I. THE SNOWY OWL. NYCTEA NYCTEA. 



Strix 7iyctea, Linn. S. N. i. p. 125 (1766). 

 Syrnia ?iyctea, Macgill. Br. B. iii. p. 407 (1840). 



