178 BRITISH BIRDS. 



at least in Yorkshire^ eight or nine times in Norfolk, and once in Suffolk. 

 In Ireland its recorded occurrences are almost as numerous, and it lias 

 been met with in most counties, except in the extreme west. 



The Snowy Owl is a circumpolar bird, breeding principally within the 

 Arctic circle. It is common in some parts of Greenland, and was found 

 breeding in Grinnell Land by Capt. Feilden, as far north as lat. 82° 33'. 

 It is found in Iceland usually during winter, more rarely in summer, and 

 has been found several times on the Faroes. It breeds throughout 

 Northern Europe, including Nova Zembla, but in Spitzbergen is said only 

 to occur as an occasional straggler. In winter it accidentally strays as 

 far south as Holland and Belgium, and has once occurred in Northern 

 France. In Pomerania it occurred in considerable numbers during the 

 winters of 1858-59 and 1865-66; and, on the authority of von Pelzeln, 

 it has once occurred in Lower Austria. In Asia it is an inhabitant of 

 the northern portions of the continent, sometimes straying in winter as 

 far south as South Siberia, Turkestan, Afghanistan, and Mongolia. On the 

 American continent the Snowy Owl breeds in the extreme north, straggling 

 south in winter to almost all parts of the States, and has more than once 

 been observed in the Bermudas. It has been known to occur as far south 

 as TexaSj where a single specimen was obtained by Dr. Heermann. 



Ridgway, in the third volume of the ' North American-Birds,^ separates 

 the Snowy Owl into two races, one inhabiting the Old and the other the New 

 World. The character by which these two races are distinguished is said 

 to be the dusky bars, which in the Palasarctic species are " sparse, narrow, 

 and umber-brown," and in the Nearctic species " more numerous, broader, 

 and clear brownish black." These dififerences, however, are probably due 

 to individual variation ; for birds from Europe are found to match exactly 

 birds from the American continent. Sharpe, in his ' Catalogue of Birds,' 

 vol. ii. p. 127, points out that the amount of feathering on the toes of 

 European birds is much greater than on American specimens ; but this is 

 probably due to a seasonal change, as is the case with the Willow-Grouse. 



Some writers have supposed that the white birds are the old and the 

 more spotted birds the young ; but what little evidence there is points 

 to the existence of two races of Snowy Owls, a white race and a dark 

 race, which alter little with age. Young in first plumage are said to show 

 quite as marked a variation as adults ; and birds kept in confinement are 

 said to retain the original character of their plumage year after year, 

 though the dark markings do to some extent decrease in size and number 

 with age. 



The Snowy Owl is a bird of the tundra ; and its home is on the fjelds of 

 Lapland, the tundras of Russia and Siberia, and the prairies of Arctic 

 America. Although its breeding-range extends over nearly twenty 

 degrees of latitude, its nest is never found within the limit of forest-growth. 



