582 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 



Length, 23 inches ; tail, 10 inches. A northern form, ranging 

 south in winter. The female has only the front aspect white, 

 the other parts more heavily barred with dark than in male. 



" The snowy owl visits New Jersey almost every winter, and 

 not unfrequently they remain throughout the year. Their diur- 

 nal habits, large size and snowy plumage render them an easy 

 prey to the gunner, however, and they are soon all destroyed. 

 Their food is mice." 



SURNIA, Dum. 



S. ulula, L, [fimerea), var. caparoch, Mull. American Hawk Owl. 

 Day Owl. 



No ear tufts ; iris and bill yellow ; plumage brown, much 

 speckled and barred; whitish below. Length, 16 inches; tail, 

 7 inches. A northern species. 



" This is, as the ' great gray owl,' a very rare winter visitor. 

 The author knows of but two instances of its being taken in the 

 State — in Mercer county, in 1858, and in Middlesex county, in 

 1861."— [C. C. A.] 



SPBOTYTO, Qloger. 

 S. cunicularia, var. hypogaea, Bonap. The Burrowing Owl. 



With nearly naked tarsus ; imperfect facial disk ; simple 

 middle claw ; spotted and variegated brown plumage. Length,^ 

 10 inches ; tail, 4 inches. Belongs to the western plains, living 

 in the burrows of the prairie dog, and has been accidentally con- 

 veyed to New York and Massachusetts ; might possibly also, at 

 times, be found in New Jersey. 



