206 LIFE-HISTORIES OF BIRDS 



which had been taken from the oviduct of females, in Feb- 

 ruary. One, in the spring of 1852, and the other, in 1854. 

 The eggs of this species are nearly spherical, of a beautiful 

 pure white, and measure nearly 2.01 inches in length, and 

 i .68 in width. 



Nyctea nivea, Gray. 



The American Snowy Owl is exclusively a borean species. 

 It is mainly restricted to the Arctic Circle, and temperate 

 regions adjacent thereto. In midwinter, it is found in the 

 United States, but more abundantly during certain seasons 

 than others. Individuals have been taken quite rarely in 

 South Carolina, but more commonly in Kentucky, Ohio, 

 and the Bermudas Islands. Its wanderings are certainly 

 more extensive than those of either Stirnia uhda, var. hud- 

 sonia, or Syrnium ciiierenm. There are no intimations of 

 its occurrence west of the Rocky Mountains, but in nearly 

 all the States east of the Mississippi, in the Missouri region 

 at Fort Randall, and also in Texas and Kansas, it is present 

 during the winter. When our Western Territories are 

 more thoroughly explored by individuals interested in the 

 cause of science, at the period when its visits are made, 

 evidence of its migrations will doubtless be forth-coming. 



As far as Arctic voyagers have been able to reach, its 

 northern range has extended. In the northern portions of 

 Greenland, it is more abundant than in the southern. 

 Although mainly extending its wanderings southward on the 

 approach of cold weather, in consequence of the paucity 

 of food-stuffs in Arctic regions, a few, however, remain in 

 the more sheltered localities, where they subsist upon the 

 Ptarmigan, according to Sir John Richardson. W r hen 

 perceived upon the Barren Grounds, it is somewhat 

 timid, and will instantly take to flight when approached, 

 but in the timbered regions, it manifests considerable bold- 

 ness, and has actually been known to watch the Grouse- 

 shooters from its perch in a tall tree, and to swoop down 



