70 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Nyctea scandiaca, var. arctica, Gkay. 



AMEKICAN SNOWY OWL. 



Strix arctica, Bartram, Trav. in Carolina, 1792, p. 285. Strix nyctea, (not of Linn. !) Vieill. 

 Ois. Am. Sept. 1807, pi. xviii. —Swains. & Rich. F. B. A. II, 1831, 88. — Bonap. 

 Ann. N. Y. Lye. II, 36. — Wils. Am. Oni. pi. xxxii, f. 1. — AuD. Birds Am. pi. cxxi. 

 — Ib. Orn. Biog. 11, 135. — Thomps. Nat. Hist. Vermont, p. 64. — Peab. Birds Mass. 

 Ill, 84. Surnia nyctea (Edmondst. ), James, (ed. Wils.), Am. Orn. I, 1831, 92. — 

 NuTT. Man. p. 116. — Kaup, Tr. Zool. Soc. IV, 1859, 214. Syrnia nyctea (Thomps.), 

 Jardine's (ed. Wils.) Am. Orn. II, 1832, 46. Nyctea nivea, (Gray) Cass. Birds Cal. & 

 Tex. 1854, 100. — Ib. Birds N. Am. 1858, 63. — Newton, P. Z. S. 1861, 394 (eggs). — 

 Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 330 (Texas !). — Dall & Bannister, Tr. Chicago Acad. I, ii, 

 1869, 273 (Alaska). —CouES, Kej', 1872, 205. Nydea Candida, (Lath.) Bonap. List, 

 1838, 6. 



It 



Sp. Char. Adult. Ground-color entirely snow-white, this marked with transverse 

 bars of clear dusky, of varying amount in different individuals. 



^ (No. 12,059, Washington, D. C, December 4, 1858; C. Drexler). Across the top 

 of the head, and interspersed over the wings and scapulars, are small transversely cordate 

 spots of clear brownish-black, these inclining to the form of regular transverse bars on 

 the scapulars ; there is but one on each feather. The secondaries have mottled bars of 

 more dilute dusky ; the primaries have spots of black at their ends; the tail has a single 

 series of irregular dusky spots crossing it near the end. Abdomen, sides, and flanks 

 with transverse crescentic bars of clear brownish-black. Wing, 16.50 ; tail, 9.00 ; cul- 

 men, 1.00; tarsus, 1.90; middle toe, 1.30. Wing-formula, 3, 2 = 4-5, 1. 



9 (No. 12,058, Washington, D. C, December 4, 1858). Head above and nape with 

 each feather blackish centrally, producing a conspicuously spotted appearance. Rest of 

 the plumage with regular, sharply defined transverse bars of clear brownish-black ; those 

 of the upper surface more crescentic, those on the lower tail-coverts narrower and more 

 distant. Tail crossed by five bands, composed of detached transverse spots. Only the 

 face, foreneck, middle of the breast, and feet, are immaculate ; everywhere else, except- 

 ing on the crissum, the dusky and white are in nearly equal amount. Wing, 18.00 ; tail, 

 9.80 ; culmen, 1.10. Wing-formula, 3 = 4, 2 - 1 = 5. 



Young (No. 36,434, Arctic America, August, 1803 ; MacFarlane). Only partially 

 feathered. Wings and tail as in the adult female described, iDut the blackish bars rather 

 broader. Down covering the head and body dark brownish or sooty slate, becoming 

 paler on the legs. 



Hab. Northern portions of the Nearctic Realm. Breeding in the arctic and sub- 

 arctic regions, and migrating in winter to the verge of the tropics. Bermuda (Jardine) ; 

 South Carolina (Bartram and Audubon) ; Texas (Dresser). 



Localities : Texas, San Antonio (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 330). 



The Snowy Owls of North America, though varying greatly among them- 

 selves, seem to be considerably darker, both in the extremes and average 

 conditions' of plumage, than European examples. iSTot only are the dusky 

 bars darker, but they are usually broader, and more extended over the 

 general surface. 



Habits. This is an exclusively northern species, and is chiefly confined 

 to the Arctic Circle and the adjacent portions of the temperate zone. It is 

 met with in the United States only in midwinter, and is much more abun- 



