THE LAPP OWL, 347 



"Subsequently, Mr. WoUey obtained its eggs in Kemi Lappmark in 1856, 

 and says (Ooth. VVoUeyana, p. 173) that 'the nest was on the top of a broken 

 trunk of a Scotch fir, the main part of which hung down; but from the de- 

 scription, Piety thinks there was some okl nest there. He does not remember 

 seeing any nest made. It was not high up, some 2 fathoms, perhaps; but 

 those which he has seen before were not more than 1 fathom high. The 

 top of the tree where it was broken off was not level, but it had a great 

 splinter on one side. The birds are very bold at the nest and the cry of 

 the cock attracts people to the nest. The cry is three notes drawn out, the 

 first hardest, the second lighter and short, the third lightest and longest of all, 

 "hu, hu, hu-u-u.'" Another nest, taken at Muoniovara on the 5th of April, 

 1857, was, he adds, 'made of sticks and all kinds of stuff" inside, about 3 J 

 fathoms high up in a large Scotch fir, where it is divided into several great 

 forks.' It was not like a new nest, and he describes it 'as about 2 feet in 

 thickness.' 



" I possess several eggs of this Owl received from Mr. Wolley's col- 

 lectors in Lapland, which are pure white and resemble the eggs of the Snowy 

 Owl, but appear a trifle less smooth on the surface of the shell. In size they 

 vary from 24V by If-J to 24^0 by 1|| inches [equal to about 51.5 by 42.7 and 

 54 by 43.9 millimetres] ." ^ 



The number of eggs laid at a clutch is not stated, but is probably from 

 two to four. 



A set of two eggs. No. 5322, U. S. National Museum collection, taken in 

 1861, near Tepasto, Finland, were presented to the Museum by the eminent 

 English naturalist, Mr. A. Newton. These specimens are nearly oval in shape, 

 pure white in color, slightly glossy, and the shell is roughly granulated. Tliey 

 measure 51 by 43.5 and 51.5 by 42 millimetres. None of the eggs are figured, 

 as they resemble those of the preceding species very closely, except that they 

 are a little smaller. 



119. Nyctala tengmalmi richardsoni (Bonaparte). 



Richardson's owl. 



Nyctale richardsoni Bonaparte, Geographical and Comparative List, 1838, 7. 

 Nyctale tengmalmi var. richardsoni Ridgway, American Naturalist, vi, 1872, 283. 

 (B 55, C 327, R 400, C 482, U 371.) 



Geographical range : Northern North America; south, in winter, to northern 

 border of the United States. 



The little Richardson's Owl is an inhabitant of the more boreal portions 

 of the North American continent, and, Avith the exception of Alaska, breeds, 

 as far as known at present, only north of the United States. Even in winter 



' Dresser's History of the Birds of Europe, Vol. v, pp. 282, 283. 



