1912 



THE OWLS 



limits of forest in about latitude 68, but in winter it migrates southward even 

 beyond the Canadian border into the Northern United States. The L,app owl, 

 which is one of the rarest of the European species, is confined to the boreal districts, 

 in the upper part of the forest belt, occasionally straying to North Central Europe. 

 It is distributed over Northern Scandinavia, Finland, and North Russia. The 

 total length of the gray owl may be as much as thirty inches. The Lapp owl nests 

 on the summits or forked branches of broken firs; in the former case making little or 



URAL OWI,. 



(One-fifth natural size. ) 



no nest, but in the latter erecting a large structure of twigs. The number of eggs 

 in a clutch is probably from two to four. Writing of the great gray owl, Captain 

 Bendire observes that ' ' from the limited information we possess about the nesting 

 habits of this species it appears that in Alaska these birds nest sometimes as early 

 as April, and in the interior as late as June. From two to four eggs seem to be 

 laid to a set, and these are small for the size of the bird. The body of the great 

 gray owl is, however, much smaller than that of the great horned owl, in fact but 



