288 



Surnie Harfang, French ; Schnee-Eule, German ; Harfang, Snee-ugle, Danish ; Fjelluggla, 

 Harfang, Swedish; Sneugle, Kvitbrn, Norwegian; Tunturipollo, Finnish; Sowa-Uala, 

 Polish ; Beloi-filin, Sowa-bielaya, Russian ; Ak-uJcu, Bashkir ; Edshia Pelin, Ziranin. 



Figurce notabiles. 



DAubenton, PI. Enl. 458 ; Werner, Atlas, Bapaces, pi. 35 ; Kjserb. Orn. Dan. taf. vi. ; 

 Fritsch, Vog. Eur. pi. 12. fig. 4 ; Sundev. Sv. Fogl. pi. xxiv. fig. 3 ; Gould, B. of Eur. 

 pi. 43 ; id. B. of G. B. i. pi. xxxiv. ; Naumann, Vog. Deutschl. taf. 41 ; Schlegel, Vog. 

 Nederl. pi. 44 ; Edwards, Birds, pi. 61 ; Levaill. Ois. d'Afr. t. 45 ; Wilson, Am. Orn. 

 iv. pi. 32. fig. 1 ; Aud. B. of Am. pi. 121. 8vo ed. i. pi. 28 ; Nat. Hist. New York, Birds, 

 pi. 9. fig. 20. 



cJ ad. albus : pileo, dorso et remigibus versus apicem vix fusco notatis : rostro et unguibus nigricantibus : 

 pedibus usque ad ungues plumis densissime tectis : iride flava. 



2 ad. mari similis, sed major, alba, suprsl nigro-fusco fasciata, subths eodem colore undulata : fronte, facie, gula 

 et gutture, abdomine imo, tibia? et tarsi plumis albis. 



Adult Male (Tarei-nor, Siberia, 7tb May). Pure wbite, marked only very sligbtly (almost imperceptibly) on 

 tbe crown, on tbe back and towards tbe tips of tbe primaries witb dull dark brown ; underparts pure 

 wbite, without a spot of colour ; plumage soft and full ; legs and feet covered down to tbe claws witb 

 long dense hair-like feathers ; bill and claws blackish horn ; iris deep yellow. Total length 20 inches, 

 cubnen 2 - 25, wing 16, tail 8"8, tarsus 2 - 4 



Female (Calais, Maine, U. S.). Entire upper parts white, tolerably closely barred with blackish brown; 

 forehead, feathers round the eye, throat to the fore part of the breast, lower part of the abdomen, and 

 feathers on the legs and feet pure white ; rest of the underparts barred with blackish brown, the bars 

 being smaller than on the back. Culmen 26 inches, wing 17"8, tail 10 - 6, tarsus 2 - 5. 



Nestling (Davis Straits). Head, neck, fore part of the back, and underparts covered with dark sooty brown 

 down ; feathers round the eye white, and the down under the wing, to a small extent on the centre of 

 the abdomen, and likewise the feathers on the legs and feet, which latter are quite short, also pure 

 white; on the nape are a few blackish brown feathers, barred with white; feathers on the back, 

 scapulars, and wing-coverts white, more or less barred with blackish brown ; quills white, the primaries 

 sbghtly marked with blackish brown ; tail pure white, the central feather only slightly marked with 

 dull brown ; on the breast and flanks are also a few white feathers, barred with dark brown, showing 

 amongst the down. 



Obs. The Snowy Owl varies exceedingly in the amount of dark markings on its plumage, some specimens 

 being much barred, whereas others are almost pure white ; the male I have figured being at the first 

 glance pure white, the markings being very slight and pale. Judging from the series I have examined 

 I infer that the male bird is at all times much whiter than the female ; and it is a curious circumstance 

 that the feathers on the young nestling in my collection are much whiter than those in some of the 

 mature birds, the tail being almost pure white. Wheelwright held that the female is whiter than the 

 male ; but my experience leads me to the opposite conclusion, as all the males I have examined are 

 whiter than the females. In size the males vary as follows — culmen 2"1 to 2 - 3, wing 15'8 to 17 - 5, tail 

 8-2 to 9-6, tarsus 2'3 to 2-5; and the females— culmen 2"2 to 2'6, wing 17-5 to 17-9, tail 8-8 to 10-6, 

 tarsus 2'3 to 2 - 6. 



