346 



LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



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 the middle of 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 Honied Owl, in fact but little larger than that of the Barred Owl- 

 The long tail and the loose fluffy plumage of the bird make it look much 

 larger than it really is. 



The eggs are dull white in color with but little luster, and the shell is 

 roughly granulated; in shape they are broad elliptical oval, not as rounded 

 as eggs of species belonging to the genera Syrnium and lliilio. 



The average measurement of nine eggs in the U. S. National Museum 

 collection is 55 by 44 millimetres, the largest egg measuring 57 by 44.5 

 the smallest 53.5 by 42 millimetres. 



The type specimen, No. 10277 (PI. 12, Fig. 5), from a set of two, was 

 collected by Mr. J. Sibbiston, near Fort Yukon, Alaska, in April, 1864. 



118. Scotiaptex cinerea lapponica (RETZIUS). 

 LAPP OWL. 



Strix lapponica RETZIUS, Fauna Suecica, 1800, 79. 



Scotiaptex cinerea lapponicum RIDGWAY, Manual North American Birds, 1887, p. 260. 



(B , C , R 399a, C 475, U 370a.) 



GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE : Northern portions of Europe and Asia, straggling to 

 western Alaska (shores of Norton Sound). 



The Lapp Owl, a lighter colored bird than the Great Gray Owl, claims 

 a place in our avifauna on the strength of a single specimen, an adult female, 

 brought to Mr. L. M. Turner, from the Yukon Delta, April 15, 187G, while 

 he was on duty as United States Signal observer at St. Michael, Alaska. It 

 was said to be quite rare, but he failed to learn anything regarding its habits, 

 and it may, possibly, breed in small numbers in the northern portions of 

 Alaska. 



Dresser, in speaking of this species, says: "This, one of the rarest of the 

 Owls inhabiting the Palsearctic region, is almost entirely confined to the more 

 boreal districts, where it is a resident in the upper portions of the forest belt, 

 but rarely straggling down into the northern parts of central Europe. * * * 



"The first published notice of the breeding of the present species appears 

 to be that communicated by Mr. C. G. Lowenhjelm, who states (K. Vet. Ak. 

 Handl. 1843, p. 389) that 'the nest was in a dense pine wood on a stump, 

 about 3 ells high, in the top of which a hollow had been formed by the 

 wood having rotted. In the nest was one white egg about the si/e of that 

 of the Eagle Owl; and at the foot of the stump another egg was on some 

 moss, quite uninjured.' 



