510 SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — BAPTOBES — STEIGES. 
477. S. n. al'leni. (To J. A. Allen.) Florida Barred Owl. Like S. nehulosa proper, but 
toes almost entirely naked. The feathering of the tarsus stops at the roots of the toes almost 
as abruptly as it does in Scops flammeola, in comparison with S. asio, though a slight strip of 
bristly feathers runs along the outside of the middle toe. The barring of the breast seems 
to be heavier, on an average. Florida ; a local race. 
478. S. occidenta'lis. (Lat. occidentalis, western.) Western Barred Owl. Toes feathered as 
in S. nebidosa. Decidedly smaller than that species, and otherwise readily distinguished. 
Ground-color of upper parts much the same, but the barring broken up into spotting, for the 
most part ; on the back and wing-coverts resulting in irregular variegation, on the head making 
small round white spots. Wings, tail, and facial disk much as in S. nehulosa. Under parts 
quite different, the markings being in bars everywhere, with little difference in pattern between 
the belly and the breast. The latter is closely and regularly barred with brown and white, as 
in S. nehulosa, and if the barring is at all different on the belly, it is from separation of the 
white bars into pairs of spots, in any event very different in appearance from the firm length- 
wise stripes of S. nehulosa. The difference between the two species in this regard is comparable 
to that between the long- and short-eared owls. The lining of the wings is -fully, spotted with 
dusky on a tawny ground. The general brown color of the bird is on the whole warmer than 
that of S. nehulosa. Length about 16.00 ; wing 12.00-18.00 ; tail 8.00-9.00. Western U. S., 
southerly ; a very distinct species, apparently replacing the barred owl, common in parts of 
Calif(miia, Arizona, and New Mexico. Egg 2.00 X 1.75, yellowish-white, granular. 
1 65. NYC'TEA. (Gr. vvktzvs, nukteus, Lat. nycteus, 
nocturnal.) Snow Owls. Much the same gen- 
eric characters as Buho, which see; but plumicorns 
rudimentary, and generally considered wanting; 
facial disc quite incomplete, and eyes not centric 
to it ; bill nearly buried in the frontal feathers ; 
feet densely clothed in long shaggy feathers which 
even hide the claws ; four outer quills emarginate 
on inner webs ; under tail-coverts reaching end of 
tail, which is rounded, and rather more than i as 
long as the wing. One circumpolar species of 
great size, and mostly white color; young covered 
with sooty down. 
479. N. scandia'ca. (Lat. scandiaca, of Scandinavia. 
Fig. 357.) Snowy Owl. Pure Avhite, spotted 
and barred with brownish -black markings, wholly 
indeterminate in size and number; but entirely 
M'hite specimens are very rare. There is often 
more blackish than white ; and in the darkest 
birds, the markings tend to bar the plumage with 
rows of spots, such pattern specially evident on the 
• wings and tail. A common average plumage is 
spotted all over the upper parts, broken-barred on 
the quills and tail-feathers, regularly barred on the under parts, and with white face and paws. 
The face, throat, and feet are usually whitest. Bill and claws black ; iris yellow. Nearly or 
about two feet long; extent 4.50-5.00 feet; wing 16.00-18.00 inches ; tail 9.00-10.00; culmen 
1.10 without cere; tarsus 2.00; middle toe without claw 1.25. This remarkable owl, conspic- 
uous in size and color, abounds in the boreal regions of both hemispheres, whence it comes 
southward irregularly in winter, sometimes raiding in large numbers. With us, it is of every 
winter occurrence in the Northern and Middle States, sometimes pushing its way even to the 
Fig. 357. — Snowy Owl, reduced. (From Tenney, 
after Audubon.) 
