The Snowy Owl 



or frightful, snapping their mandibles, and groaning now and then in a 

 most dismal fashion. If the young are well grown, it is not at all safe to 

 venture near, for an irate Horned Owl is incredibly swift in attack, and a 

 raking shot from those powerful talons will leave at best a very sore head. 

 One ardent investigator,' presuming too much upon an acquaintance of 

 two years' standing, attempted to remove the owlets from a nest for 

 photographic purposes. The blood flowing from three scalp wounds was 

 soon staunched and he recovered his cap from a tree top a hundred yards 

 away, "a punctured souvenir of our last intimate contact with the local 

 Horned Owls." 



No. 219 



Snowy Owl 



A. O. U. No. 376. Nyctea nyctea (Linnanis). 



Description. — Adult male: Without plumicorns; entire plumage pure white, 

 sometimes almost unmarked, but usually more or less spotted, or indistinctly barred 

 above with pale brownish or fuscous, — perhaps heaviest on middle of back and wing- 

 coverts; wing-quills and tail-feathers irregularly and sparingly spotted with dusky: 

 below still fainter indications of dusky barring; legs and feet immaculate, heavily 

 feathered. Bill and claws black; iris yellow. Adult female: Similar to male, but much 

 more heavily barred with brownish black — only face, forebreast and feet unmarked; 

 top of head and hind-neck spotted with dusky. Young: Uniform brownish dusky or 

 sooty gray. Length of adult male (measured from tip of bill over head to end of tail): 

 635-685.8 (25.00-27.00); wing 410 (16.14); ta il 2 3° (9-06); bill from cere 25.7 (1.02). 

 Adult female, length 685.8-762 (27.00-30.00); wing 445 (17.52); tail 250 (9.85); bill 

 from cere 27.5 (1.08). 



Recognition Marks. — Brant to eagle size; pure or nearly pure white plumage. 



Nesting. — Does not breed in California. Nest: A hollow in the ground, scantily 

 lined with moss or grass and feathers. Eggs: 3 to 10, usually 5 to 7; oval, white. Av. 

 size 57 x 45 (2.44 x 1.77); index 80. 



General Range. — Northern portion of Northern Hemisphere. In North 

 America breeds chiefly on the barren grounds from the Yukon Delta, central Mackenzie, 

 and northern Ungava, north to high latitudes. Winters regularly south from the Arctic 

 Circle to southern Canadian provinces, and sporadically into the northern central 

 states, and straggles even to California, Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina; and 

 casually to Bermuda (3 records). 



Occurrence in California. — Rare and sporadic visitor in winter. Two invasions 

 recorded in recent years: that of 1896 reaching to Sonoma and Alameda counties, or 

 possibly Santa Cruz (fide Thompson); that of 1916 reaching Del Norte (Nov. 1, spec, 

 in M. C. O. coll.) and Humboldt counties. 



Authorities. — Cohen, Osprey, vol. i., 1897, p. 71 (Alameda, Sonoma, and 

 Humboldt counties, Dec, 1896); Thompson, Condor, vol. iii., 1901, p. 141 (Santa Cruz); 

 Smith, Condor, vol. xix., 1917, p. 24 (Humboldt Co., Nov., 1916); Bryant, Calif. Fish 

 and Game, vol. iii., 1917, p. 37 (n. Calif.; winter 1916-17). 



1 Chas. R. Keyes. See Condor, Vol. XIII., Jan., 1911, p. 17. 



IIIQ 



