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mature plumage is rarely met with. Whether it does not appear 

 in full plumage until a very advanced age, or that the adults 

 associate apart from the young, and da not in general visit this sec- 

 tion, I cannot say. 



In the Fauna Boreali Americana it is said to be a conunon spe- 

 cies in the Fur countries, where they arrive in the latter end of 

 April, and depart at the close of September. " On the plains of 

 Saskatchewan only mature birds were seen, and none but the 

 young on the shores of Bear Lake." The Prince of Musignano 

 observes that they are to be found in all varieties of plumage in 

 Florida, but that in the Northern States the young only are known, 

 I have seen a few adults said to have been shot on the south 

 side of Long Island. 



FAMILY STRIGINiE. 



OWLS. 



GENUS SURNIA — DUMERIL. 



DAY OWL. 



[Opening of the ears oval, and of moderate size ; the feathers around the face 

 slender, indistinct ; head without tufts — diurnal.] 



SURNIA NYCTEA— LINN. 



SNOWY OWL. 



Snowy Owl, Strix nyctea, Nutt. Man. 

 Snowy Owl, Strix nyctea, Aud. Orn. Biog. 



Specific Character — Plumage w^ite ; head and back marked 

 with dusky spots ; lower parts and tail feathers barred with black- 

 ish brown ; female about three inches longer, with the dusky bands 

 more numerous and broader. Young pure white. Length twenty 

 two inches, wing eighteen. 



The Snowy Owl is said to inhabit the Arctic regions of both 

 continents. In winter they enter the United States, and at that sea- 



