136 STRIGID_>E. 



northern latitudes : the female deposits three or four white 

 eggs. In the north, where they cannot breed very early, the 

 young do not fly before September. Some nests of these birds 

 are said to have been found on the eastern shores of the 

 Baltic : one of them was placed on the ground near a bush, 

 and was composed chiefly of holly branches. 



The Snowy Owl rarely makes its appearance in our lati- 

 tudes ; several individuals have, however, been met with in 

 the Orkney and Shetland Islands, some in the northern parts 

 of England, and a few stragglers have been found as far south 

 as Norfolk. They have usually been observed in this country 

 in open and exposed places, such as the moors of Northum- 

 berland, or on rabbit warrens on the sea coast. 



At present we have been unable to obtain a specimen of 

 the egg of this species ; but trust we shall have the oppor- 

 tunity of representing it in some future number of the work. 



The length of the Snowy Owl is above two feet, expanse 

 five feet, length of the wing from carpus to tip seventeen to 

 eighteen inches ; the tail, which is wedge-shaped, measures 

 ten inches ; and the wings when at rest cover two-thirds of 

 its length. The beak is black, powerful, and beautifully 

 arched, and measures one inch and seven-eighths in the outer 

 circle, from the forehead to the tip. The nostrils, which are 

 placed in the thin black-coloured cere, large and round, and 

 the iris of the eyes bright orange yellow. The legs are so 

 completely and thickly covered with feathers, as to have the 

 appearance of wool, and the large black claws are the only 

 part visible, the soles of the feet even being entirely hidden 

 by the feathering. The tarsus measures two inches and a 

 quarter in length, the middie toe and claw three inches, and 

 the hinder with the claw two inches: the claw of the inner 

 toe is the largest. Of the beak there is only a small part 

 visible among the bristling white feathers by which the face 

 is entirely covered. 



In very old birds the plumage is white as snow without 

 any spots. Mature birds of less age are spotted with dusky 



