414 



OWLS 



Snowy Owl 

 (Nyctea scandiaca). 



It is somewhat to be regretted that the name of 

 white owl is one of the titles of the barn-owl, as it 

 would have been very applicable to the great snow)- 

 owl, or snow-owl (the Nj'ctca iiivea of some ornithologists, and the 

 Nyctea nyctea of those who favour the reduplicative system of nomen- 

 clature). Next in point of size to the eagle-owl, the present species 

 is unmistakable on account of its more or less pure white plumage. 



and therefore really re- 

 quires no description, 

 although for the sake of 

 uniformity a brief one 

 may be given. As a 

 rule, the dazzling white 

 of the adult plumage is 

 marked by a variable 

 number of black or dark 

 brown spots or bars ; but 

 there is great individual 

 variation with regard to 

 these markings, some 

 birds showing a large 

 amount of black, while 

 others are almost wholly 

 white. According to 



some authorities, snow}- 

 owls become whiter with 

 age, but the females, 

 which are rather larger 

 than the males, appear to 

 be always more heavily 

 spotted and barred than 

 the latter, and in young birds the dark markings are certainly still more 

 abundant. In marked contrast to that of the eagle-owl, the nestling is 

 clothed in sooty-brown down. It may be added that snowy owls 

 possess distinct, although inconspicuous, ear-tufts. 



That the plumage of the snowy owl is a special adaptation to 

 existence in the Arctic regions, which form the main habitat of the 

 species, is self-apparent. Since, however, both the snowy owl and the 

 eagle-owl breed in Lapland, it may be legitimately asked, wh\-, if a 

 white plumage is essential in the one ca.sc, it is not equally so in the 

 other? To this it may be replied that in reality both birds have a 



MOUNTED IN THE flOWL«N0 ' 



SNOVVV OUT, (FKMAI-K). 



