SNOW OWL. 299 
pale brown above, and with semicircular dashes below ; femora] feath- 
ers, long, and legs covered, even over the claws, with long, shaggy, 
hair-like down, of a dirty white; the claws, when exposed, appear 
large, much hooked, of a black color, and extremely sharp pointed ; 
back, white; tail, rounded at the end, white, slightly dotted with pale 
brown near the tips ; wings, when closed, reach near the extremity of 
the tail; vent-feathers, large, strong-shafted, and extending also to 
the point of the tail; upper part of the breast.and belly, plain white ; 
body, very broad and flat. 
The female, which measures two feet in length, and five feet two 
‘ inches in extent, is covered more thickly with spots of a much darker 
color than those on the male; the chin, throat, face, belly, and vent, 
are white ; femoral feathers, white, long, and shaggy, marked with a 
few heart-shaped spots of brown; legs, also covered to the claws with 
long, white, hairy down, rest of the plumage, white, every feather 
spotted or barred with dark brown, largest on the: wing-quills, where 
they are about two inches apart; fore part of the crown, thickly 
marked with roundish, black spots; tail, crossed with bands of broad, 
brownish spots ; shafts of all the plumage, white ; bill and claws, as 
in the male, black; third and fourth wing-quill, the longest ; span of 
the foot, four inches. : 
From the various individuals of these birds which I have examined, 
I have reason to believe that the male alone approaches nearly to 
white in his plumage, the female rarely or never. The bird from 
which Fig. 145 was drawn was killed. at Egg Harbor, New Jersey, in 
the month of December. The conformation of the eye of this bird 
forms a curious and interesting subject to the young anatomist. The 
globe of the eye is immovably fixed in its socket by a strong, elastic, 
hard, cartilaginous case, in form of a truncated cone ; this case, being 
closely covered with a skin, appears, at first, to be of one continued 
piece; but,.on removing the exterior membrane, it is’ found to be 
formed of -fifteen pieces, placed like the staves of 2 cask, overlapping 
-a little at. the base, or narrow end, and seem as if capable of being 
enlarged or contracted, perhaps by the muscular membrane with 
which they are encased. In. five other different species of Owls, 
which I have since examined, I found nearly the same conformation 
of this organ, and exactly the same number of staves. The eye being 
thus fixed, these birds; as they view different objects, are always 
obliged to turn the head; and Nature has so excellently adapted their 
neck to this purpose, that they can, with ease, turn it round, without 
moving the body, in almost a complete circle.* 
* In prefixing the generic dppellations to this curious family, 1 must at once 
confess my inability to do it in a~manner satisfactory to myself. They have been 
yet comparatively unstudied; and the organs of greatest importance have been 
“seemingly most neglected. Neither my own collection, nor those accessible in 
Britain; contain sufficient materials to decide upon. I will, therefore, consider any 
attempt now to divide. them, in the words of Mr. Swainson, “ as somewhat specula- 
tive, and certainly not warranted by any evidence that has yet becn brought for- 
ward on the subject.” The names are applied, then, on the authority of ornitholo- 
gists of high standing. : ; ai 
This Owl, and some others, will form the genus Noctua of Savigny and Cuvier, 
‘and are closely allied to.the Swrnia of Dumeril. In fact, the characters of the lat- 
ter appear to me to agree better than those of Noctua; and Lessun says, “Les 
+] 
