Across the Fields. 267 



like the Screech Owl. The eggs are white, from three to six in number, and 

 are a little more than an inch and a half long by almost an inch and a quarter 

 in their smaller diameter. 



The Snowy Owl scarcely needs description, so familiar has it become 

 through many stuffed specimens. It is a bird about two feet in length, vary- 

 ing from almost uniform unspotted white to white quite 

 Snowy Owl. heavily barred, and spotted with a dusky shade almost 



Nyctea nyctea (Linn.). ' * 



black. The head is round and the eyes are yellow. The 

 feet and legs are thickly feathered. The female is generally more barred 

 than the male. 



The nest is built on the ground or on a ledge on some rocky cliff. Very 

 little material is used to construct a resting place for the eggs and young, 

 usually some moss and feathers. From three to ten eggs are laid. They 

 are white in color, and about two inches and a quarter long by an inch and 

 three quarters in their other diameter. 



The Snowy Owl inhabits the northern parts of the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere. In North America they breed from Labrador northward, and occur 

 in the more northern United States regularly in winter, straggling sometimes 

 far south. There are records from South Carolina, Texas, and Bermuda. 



The birds are diurnal and crepuscular in their habits, and are not night 

 hunters. In Minnesota they prey largely on the Prairie Chickens and 

 Grouse, but they feed also on mice and small animals. 



The Short-eared Owl is a bird about sixteen inches long, with a general 



ground color varying from deep tawny buff to a very light shade of that 



color. This ground color is heavily streaked above with 



Short-eared Owl. dusky brown, which preponderates in this region. On the 



Asio accipitrinus (Pall.). , , , 



upper breast the two colors are about evenly represented, 

 but gradually the streaks of dusky become narrow, till they are often want- 

 ing on the belly, and are lacking on the feathers below the tail. The ear- 

 tufts are short, inconspicuous, and near together above the eyes. The eyes are 

 yellow or orange varying in individuals. The tail and the larger feathers of 

 the wing are barred broadly with tawny buff and dusky brown. 



The nest is built on the ground in open places, often in low meadows or 

 salt marshes, among bushes or in tall grass. The birds lay from four to 



