74 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



the statement that this bird always breeds on the ground in open places, 

 and frequently lays quite a large number of eggs. This specimen measures 

 2.50 inches in length and 1.88 in breadth. It is oblong-oval in shape, 

 equally rounded at either end, and of a dull soiled white. Tlie egg is mucli 

 discolored, apparently by its contact with the ground. 



Mr. H. S. Hawkins (Ibis, 1870, p. 298) gives an account of the nest and 

 eggs of this species, derived from a correspondent at one of the Moravian 

 missionary stations on the coast of Labrador. The nest is said to consist of 

 only a few feathers, and to be placed generally on a ledge of rocks where 

 there is a slight hollow, sufficient to prevent the eggs from rolling out, but 

 sometimes on tlie ground. The usual number of eggs is eight ; these are 

 not all laid and brooded at one time, but the first two are often hatched by 

 the time the last is laid, so that you may find in one nest young birds, fresh 

 eggs, and others more or less incubated. 



Herr von Heugiin, in his Notes on the birds of Novaja Zemlia (Ibis, 1872, 

 p. 61), mentions meeting with this Owl in Seal's Bay, on Matthew's Strait, 

 in the Sea of Kara, where he found three nests with two vouno' birds covered 



' I/O 



with down. The nest was formed of a shallow de[)ression in the turf, without 

 any lining. The food of the Snowy Owl, in Novaja Zemlia, during the summer 

 time, consisted exclusively of a species of Myodcs, which were very numerous. 

 The down of the young is plain brownish-gray. They were easily tamed, 

 and their comical gestures and vivacity are said to have been very amusing. 

 Captain C. T. Hall, the celebrated Arctic voyager, during one of his 

 expeditions found a nest and four eggs of this species on the bare ground. 

 These were packed up in an old moccasin, and sent, without emptying, to 

 the Smithsonian Institution, where, after an interval of several months, they 

 were successfully emptied, and are now among the choice treasures of the 

 national museum. 



Genus SURNIA, Dumeril. 



Surnia, Dumeril, Zobl. Anal. 1806, 34. (Type, Strix ulula, Linx.) 



Gen. Char. Size medium ; form elongated, and general aspect hawk-like. No ear- 

 tufts. Four outer quills with their inner webs sinuated, the third longest; tail nearly as 

 long as the wing, graduated. Ear-conch small, simple, oval. Bill strong, yellow ; eyes 

 small, the iris yellow. Tarsi and- toes thickly covered with soft dense feathers; tarsus 

 shorter than the middle toe. Plumage much more compact, and less downy, and remiges 

 and rectrices stiffer and straighter than in other Owls. 



The single species of this genus belongs exclusively to the cold temperate 

 and arctic zones of the Northern Hemisphere, and is circumpolar. Though 

 somewhat hawk-like in its a]:)pearance, it is nevertheless a true Owl, and 

 possesses no affinities of structure with the Hawks, any more than other 

 species of Striyidce. 



