STlilGIU^E, OWLS. GEN. 145, 14G, 147. 



205 



A 



)luekisli nuiildugs. 

 Ilc'iul smoolii: fhcinl disks 



145. Genus 3NYCTEA Stephens. 

 Snowy Old. Pure Avhite, with more (ir fewer 

 Nearly 2 feet long; wing 17 iuelies ; tail 10 

 incomplete ; eyes and ear parts moder- 

 ate ; feet densely clothed. This reiuark- 

 al)lo owl, conspicuous both in size and 

 color, inhabits the boreal regions of both 

 continents, coming southward in winter ; 

 it ordinarily enters the United States, 

 and in extreme cases ranges irregularly 

 through most of the States. It is not 

 by any means exclusively nocturnal. 

 WiLS., iv, 53, pi. 32, f. 1; Nutt., i, 

 116; AuD., i, 113, pi. 28; Cass, in Bd., 

 63; Coop., 447 kivea. 



146. Genus SURTiTIA Dumeril. 



Hawh Old. Day Oid. Dark brown 

 aljove, more or less thickly speckled 

 with white ; below, closely barred with 

 brown and whitish, the throat alone 

 streaked; quills and tail with numerou 

 with black. Length about 16 inches ; wing 9 ; tail 7, graduated, the lateral 

 feathers 2 inches shorter than the central. Except in the Icngtli of its tail, 

 which produces linear measurements unusual for a liird of its bulk in this 

 family, its general form is that of the snowj' owl. Like that species, it is a 

 ))ird of Arctic regions, coming southward in winter, but its range is more 

 restricted, rarely extending to the Middle States. It is the most diurnal 

 l>ird of the famil}', ranging abroad at all times, and approaches a hawk 

 more nearly than any other. \Yils., vi, 64, pi. 50, f. 6; Nutt., i, 115; 

 AuD., i, 112, pi. 27 ; Cass, in Bd., 64 ; Coop., 448. uliila var. hudsoxica. 



^ 



Fro. r:s. S)io\vy O.vl. 



white bars; face ash\-, niara'ined 



3 



147. Genus NYCTALE Erehm. 



*.j.* Small owls with the head nntufted, the facial disks complete, the ears opercn- 

 Iate,the tarsns longer than the middle toe, the tail nearly even, the 3rt quill longest, 

 the first 5 emarginate ; color above chocolate-brown, spotted with white, the tail 

 with transverse white bars ; the adult with the facial area and forehead variegated 

 with white, the face and superciliary line grayish- white, the lower parts white with 

 spots or streaks of the color of the back ; the young with the facial area and fore- 

 head dark brown, the face dusky, the ej'ebrows pure white, the lower parts brown, 

 paler on the belly, unmarked. (See Ridgwat, Am. Nat. vi, 284.) 



•" Tengmalm's Owl. Large; wing 7-|- ; tail 4^-, thus more than half the 

 wing. Bill yellow, the cere not tumid, the nostrils presenting laterally, and 

 obliquely oval. Arctic America, south to tiie borders of the United States. 



