138 SNOWY OWL. 



its wings several times as if intending to fly off'; but, with some care, it 

 was approached and shot. It proved to be a fine old female, the plumage 

 of which was almost pure white. I have heard of individuals having 

 been seen as far down the Mississippi as the town of Memphis. Some 

 Indians assured me that they had shot one at the mouth of the Red 

 River ; and, while on the Arkansas River, I was frequently told of a 

 large White Owl that had been seen there during winter. 



So much has been said to me of its breeding in the northern parts of 

 the State of Maine, that this may possibly be correct. In Nova Scotia 

 they are abundant at the approach of winter; and Professor Mac Culloch, 

 of the University of Pictou, shewed me several beautiful specimens in his 

 fine collection of North American Birds. Of its place and mode of 

 breeding I know nothing ; for, although every person to whom I spoke 

 of this bird while in Labrador knew it, my party saw none there ; and in 

 Newfoundland we were equally unsuccessful in our search. 



Sims. NYCTEA, Linn. Sj'st. Nat. vol. i. p. 132 La^/i. Index Ornith. vol. i. p. 57 — 



Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 36. — Swains, and Richards, 

 Fauna Bor. Americ. vol. i. p. 88. 



Snowy Owl, Strix nyctea, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 53. pi. 32. fig. I. — Nul. 

 tall, Manual, vol. i. p. 116. 



Adult Male. Plate CXXI. Fig. 1. 



Bill short, compressed, curved, acute, with a small cere at the base ; 

 upper mandible with its dorsal outline curved from the base, the edges 

 sharp, the point trigonal, very acute, deflected ; lower mandible with the 

 edges sharp and inflected, the tip obtuse. Nostrils roundish, in the fore 

 part of the cere, concealed. J)y the recumbent bristles. Head very large, 

 although proportionally smaller than in most other owls, as are the eyes and 

 external ears. Body short. Legs of ordinary length ; tarsus feathered, 

 as are the toes, on which, however, are two scutella ; claws curved, slender, 

 rounded, extremely sharp. 



The plumage is soft but compact above, blended beneath, and in ge- 

 neral remarkable for its bulk and elasticity. The feet are thickly clothed 

 with long shaggy feathers, and the eyes are surrounded by circles of 

 bristly feathers with disunited barbs. Wings ample, the third quill 

 lono-est; the secondaries very broad and rounded. Tail of moderate 

 length, slightly rounded, of twelve very broad rounded feathers. 



