262 M. Menzljier on the Birds of European 



breediug-season, though it is common enough there during 

 the winter. In exceptional cases the Snowy Owl breeds in 

 the Government of St. Petersburg and in Livonia. 



During the winter the Snowy Owl is distributed through- 

 out the whole of Russia, as far south as the shores of the 

 Caspian Sea and Taganrog on the Sea of Azov. 



Bubo maximus. 



The Great Horned Owl is distributed throughout Russia 

 with the excej)tion of the tundra, but it is nowhere very 

 common in our country. Tlie specimens of this bird pro- 

 cured east of the Volga differ from those of Central and 

 Western Russia in being paler and whiter, like the Siberian 

 Great Horned Owl ; but the veritable Bubo maximus var. 

 sibh'ica occurs only east of the Ural Mountains. In Bash- 

 kiria the pale variety of- the Great Horned Owl meets with 

 the pale variety of the Central-Asiatic Bubo turcomanus. 

 The south-eastern limit of the distribution of B. maximus in 

 the country between the Upper Ural river and the mouth 

 of the Volga is still unknown. 



Bubo turcomanus. 



Some ornithologists confound Bubo turcomanus, Eversm., 

 with Bubo sibiricus, Licht., and on this ground connect the 

 former with Bubo maximus. This confusion has arisen 

 from the fact that the pale variety of Bubo turcomanus, 

 which is probably only a climatic variety of the Central- 

 Asiatic bird, bears a superficial resemblance to the Siberian 

 form of Bubo maximus ; but the dimensions and the character 

 of the coloration of the two birds are very different. Both in 

 their pale varieties and in the typical forms, B. turcomanus 

 is not so large as B. maximus, and has not the large longi- 

 tudinal black streaks on the lower breast and abdomen. 

 Typical specimens of B. turcomavus being very similar to B. 

 ascalaphus, it seems to me that this bird is an intermediate 

 form between B. maximus and B. ascalaphus. 



The geographical distribution of the Turcoman Great 

 Horned Owl is as follows — the south-western part of Siberia 

 as far north as lat. b^F (Upper Uralsk), where this bird 



