244 



NESTS AND EOOS OF 



376. SNOWY OWL. Nyctea nyctea (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— Northern portions of 

 the Northern Hemisphere; in North America, migrating southward in winter to the 

 Middle States, straggling to Virginia, South Carolina, Texas and to the Bermudas. 



This large and beautiful bird inhabits the boreal regions of both continents. 

 It is commonly called White Owl, and is found with the plumage almost immacu- 

 late, or marked with bars and spots of 

 black and slaty-brown. It is a bird of 

 wide range, extending its migrations as 

 far south as the sub-tropical regions. 

 During some winters it is very abun- 

 dant in the United States, especially in 

 the Northern, Middle and Eastern . 

 States. The food of the Snowy Owl 

 consists of hares, squirrels, muskrats, 

 and other small animals, and, as the 

 bird is not exclusively nocturnal, it 

 catches these quadrupeds in daytime as 

 readily as any hawk. It is said probably 

 to breed in Northern Maine, Canada, 

 Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, as it 

 does in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

 Common during the summer months in 

 the region of Hudson Bay and other 

 portions of Arctic America, nesting on 

 the ground in moss on the dry parts of 

 marshes. I cannot quote better au- 

 thority on the breeding range and nidi- 

 fication of this species than that of the 

 late Major Charles E. Bendire from his 

 "Life Histories of North American 

 Birds." He says: "The breeding 

 range of the Snowy Owl in North 

 America extends from about latitude 

 53° in Labrador north to the Arctic 

 Sea, and it has been observed at the 

 highest latitudes our Arctic explorers 

 have as yet been able to reach., it is likewise common in Greenland duringf the 

 breeding season, but much more in the northern than the southern portions." 

 €en. A. W. Greely, chief signal officer, U. S. army, mentions a nest of this species 

 taken near Fort Conger, Grinnell Land, May 22, 1882, and young birds on July 8. 

 He says that "the Snowy Owls breed abundantly in the vicinity of Fort Conger, and 

 as many as fifteen or twenty-five young birds were raised in 1882 and kept by us 

 until approaching winter compelled us to release them. A nest near Fort Conger 

 resembled that described by Maj. Feilden, which was a mere hollow scooped out of 

 the earth and situated on the summit of an eminence which rose from the center of 

 the valley." In this case a few feathers and a little grass were present. From three 

 to ten eggs are laid by the Snowy Owl, usually from five to seven, white in color, 

 sometimes apparently with a creamy tint, and oblong oval in shape. The average 

 measurement of fifteen specimens in the U. S. National Museum is 2.g4xl.77. ' 



376 Snowv Owi. (After Audubon.) 



