1 62 OWLS. 



till the end of June ; and, as the eggs are laid at intervals, some may frequently be 

 found far on in the latter month. In America the hawk-owl probably breeds only 

 in the fur-country and the wooded districts of Alaska. It is there very destructive 

 to ptarmigan, as it is in the Old World to willow-grouse. In America the number 

 of eggs laid varies from three to seven. Mr. R. MacFarlane states, that on the 

 Anderson River " four nests of this species were discovered, and the eggs taken 

 therefrom. All of them were built in pine-trees at a considerable height from the 

 ground. One was actually placed on the topmost boughs, and, like the others, 

 constructed of small twigs and sticks, and lined with hay and moss." 



Conspicuous for its snowy plumes generally more or less 

 mottled with black the great snowy owl (Nyctea scandiaca) cannot 

 be confounded with any other member of the order, being the only representative 

 of its genus. As a genus the snowy owl is distinguished from the preceding by 

 the shortness of the tail, which is only about the length of the wing, and also 

 by the under tail-coverts being produced nearly to the tip of the tail. Moreover, 

 there are slight rudiments of ear-tufts. The plumage of the adult bird may vary 

 from pure white to white largely spotted with black; when present, the dark 

 markings are placed near the tips of the feathers, and wjiile those on the 

 under-parts are crescentic, those above approach a linear form. Although the 

 nestling is covered with sooty black down, the first feathers are similar to those of 

 the adult; w^hence we must conclude that the evolution of the white plumage 

 dates from an extremely remote period. While Prof. Newton is disposed to regard 

 the amount of black in the plumage as an individual peculiarity, Dr. Sharpe 

 believes that the pure white plumage occurs only in the oldest birds, and then 

 only in the male sex. In length the snowy owl measures upwards of 26 inches. 



The snowy owl has a circumpolar distribution, inhabiting the northern 

 regions of both hemispheres, and straggling southwards in winter. Common 

 in Lewis, and blown over to the east coasts of Scotland in considerable 

 numbers, and likewise visiting Ireland in winter, the snowy owl does not breed 

 in any portion of the British Islands. Found in Iceland during the winter, 

 it is a permanent resident in Scandinavia, Greenland, and Northern Russia; 

 while in winter it ranges all through Siberia to Amurland, and has been taken in 

 Poland and Lithuania, as also at Peshawur. Although rare in Spitzbergen, it is 

 common in Novaia Zemlia and on the northern coast of Asia. At the present day 

 this owl is very rarely seen in the south of England, but during the Pleistocene 

 period it appears to have been not uncommon, the bone represented on p. 140' 

 having been obtained from a cave in Devonshire. And it is noteworthy that 

 during the period in question, lemmings, which now form such a large portion of 

 the prey of this species, were also common in England. In America this owl 

 ranges as far south as Texas. The open and desolate moss-covered tundras of 

 Northern Siberia and Lapland, as well as the corresponding regions of North 

 America, are the favourite haunts of the snowy owl. A shy bird, hunting both 

 by day and night, and endowed with noiseless though powerful flight, it falls 

 suddenly on its prey, which is always immediately devoured on the spot. In the 

 Old World its food consists of lemmings, young sea-birds, ptarmigan, grouse, ducks, 

 and, it is said, the Arctic fox and hare; while in the Trans -Baikal districts 



