SNOWY OWL. 
313 
is pure white, having the tips of the feathers 
brownish black or black, and the rest of the 
feathers crossed with decided bars of the same 
colour ; on the iimer webs of the wings, the bars 
are incomplete, and are only marked next the 
quill ; on the tail, they are often wanting cn the 
outer feathers. In the males, the plumage has 
fewer barred markings, and they are of a deeper 
black, the head and upper portion of the back and 
neck being sometimes nearly without them; in 
the female, the markings assume a tint of brown. 
The tarsi and feet are thickly clothed with plumes, 
having the webs unconnected, and assuming the 
form of thin bristles ; they often entirely conceal 
the hinder claw, and when the bird is at rest, 
nothing but the tips of the claws are visible. The 
irides are gamboge yellow. The dimensions of a 
female killed by Mr Edmonstone was, in the 
extent of the wings, five feet five inches; the 
weight five pounds. 
A female in our own collection, from Orkney, 
is in length, from the crown to the end of the tail, 
about twenty-five inches. 
It is by blending the manners of this bird with 
those of the true Hawk Owls, in conjunction with 
their form, that we are brought back to a close 
reunion with the true diurnal Raptores ; and 
we have another bird only to mention, which 
