IN THE NORWICH MUSEUM. 57 
‘Africa, Europe, and Asia. The most typical species 
of the genus Syrazum is the well-known 5S. aluco, the 
Tawny or Ivy Owl of the British Islands, which is 
very generally diffused over the Continent of Europe, 
as well as over some parts of North Africa and Asia; 
the largest species of the genus is, however, the 
magnificent Cinereous or Lap Owl, (S. cénereum) a 
native of the most northern countries of Europe, Asia, 
and America, of which the Norwich Museum possesses 
an unusually fine series, consisting of fourteen speci- 
mens, most of which were collected in Lapland by 
that indefatigable ornithologist, the late Mr. John 
Wolley, and presented, after his decease, to the Nor- 
wich Museum by his father, the Rev. John Wolley, 
together with many other valuable specimens obtained 
by him during various expeditions in Northern Scan- 
danavia. 
The succeeding genus, /Vyctea, contains but one 
species, the large and beautiful Snowy Owl, which is 
appropriately so named both as regards the pure white 
plumage which is predominant in its dress, and per- 
haps also with reference to the arctic regions which it 
usually inhabits. It is found in the most northern 
parts of Europe, Asia, and America, but sometimes 
strays further south, especially in Autumn and Winter, 
when specimens are occasionally obtained in Scotland, 
and also, but less frequently, in England and Ireland. 
The Snowy Owl is a bird of voracious and somewhat 
omnivorous appetite, and the following fact related by 
