TYPICAL OWLS: Family Strigidae [ 341 ] 



California than they are to lagofhonus or occidentalis. We have numerous 

 specimens from Burns, Malheur, Maupin, Gateway, and Cayuse that are 

 almost identical with birds from Los Angeles. In addition to these there 

 is a peculiar looking bird in Jewett's collection, taken at Hart Mountain 

 on June 2.1, 1933, that seems referable only to this species, perhaps as a 

 slightly albinistic individual. In color it is most like subarcticus of the 

 north and pallescens of the southern border, falling somewhat between 

 these two. It lacks entirely the dark black and white barring of occidentalis 

 and has only a slight touch of the buffy wash associated with -pacificus, 

 although in size it corresponds to the latter. 



Snowy Owl: 



Nyctea nyctea (Linnaeus) 



DESCRIPTION. "Ear tufts rudimentary; ear openings small, without anterior flap, 

 the two ears not distinctly different; tail not reaching beyond tips of longest under 

 coverts; four outer quills emarginate; toes covered with long hair-like feathers, 

 partly or wholly concealing the claws; bill nearly concealed by loral feathers. 

 Adult male: body pure white, sometimes almost unspotted, but usually marked more 

 or less with transverse spots or bars of slaty brown. Adult female: much darker, 

 pure white only on face, throat, middle of breast and feet, the head spotted, and 

 the rest of the body barred with dark brown. Male: length 10-13; wing 15.50- 

 17.30, tail 9.00-9.70, bill i. Female: length 2.3-2.7, wing 17.30-18.70, tail 9.70- 

 10.30, bill 1. 10." (Bailey) Nest: A slight depression in the ground, lined to some 

 extent with feathers, moss, or lichen. Eggs: 5 to 7, white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Circumpolar. Breeds on Arctic islands and on mainland of 

 this continent, Yukon delta, central Mackenzie, central Keewatin, and northern 

 Ungava, and migrates south sporadically to California, Texas, and Gulf States. In 

 Oregon: Irregular winter visitor most frequently seen in eastern Oregon but occa- 

 sionally appearing in western Oregon in November and December. 



THE SNOWY OWL (Plate 61, A) was first reported for Oregon by Townsend 

 (1839), who simply listed it as one of the species of that territory with 

 no date. Bendire (Brewer 1875) reported one at Camp Harney, January 

 2.5, 1875, an d a little later (Bendire 1877) listed it as "a rare winter visitor, 

 observed on several occasions, but no specimens procured." Johnson 

 (1880) stated it was a winter bird of the Willamette Valley, and Merrill 

 (1897) reported: "In December, 1896, there was a general migration of 

 Snowy Owls into northern Idaho, Oregon and Washington and dozens 

 were killed." Woodcock (1901), in addition to references to some of 

 the above records, reported that it was occasionally taken at Corvallis, 

 Scio, Dayton, and Yaquina Bay. The Yaquina Bay record was from 

 Bretherton, who considered it "a rare winter visitor, quite numerous in 

 1897." Walker (192.4) stated it was common during the winter of 1916-17 

 at Netarts and Tillamook Bays, and from all the records available to us, 

 it is evident that that winter and the following one witnessed the last 

 flights that brought this great predator into Oregon in numbers. In 

 almost every village and town in the northern part of eastern Oregon are 



