i 62 
O WLS. 
till the end of June; and, as the eggs are laid at intervals, some may frequently he 
found far on in the latter month. In America the hawk-owl probably breeds only 
in the fur-country and the wooded districts of Alaska. It is there very destructive 
to ptarmigan, as it is in the Old World to willow-grouse. In America the number 
of eggs laid varies from three to seven. Mr. R. MacFarlane states, that on the 
Anderson River “ four nests of this species were discovered, and the eggs taken 
therefrom. All of them were built in pine-trees at a considerable height from the 
ground. One was actually placed on the topmost boughs, and, like the others, 
constructed of small twigs and sticks, and lined with hay and moss.” 
Conspicuous for its snowy plumes — generally more or less 
snowy ow . mo ^ e q w ith black—the great snowy owl (Nyctea scandiaca ) cannot 
be confounded with any other member of the order, being the only representative 
of its genus. As a genus the snowy owl is distinguished from the preceding by 
the shortness of the tail, which is only about the length of the wing, and also 
by the under tail-coverts being produced nearly to the tip of the tail. Moreover, 
there are slight rudiments of ear-tufts. The plumage of the adult bird may vary 
from pure white to white largely spotted with black; when present, the dark 
markings are placed near the tips of the feathers, and while those on the 
under-parts are crescentic, those above approach a linear form. Although the 
nestling is covered with sooty black down, the first feathers are similar to those of 
the adult; whence we must conclude that the evolution of the white plumage 
dates from an extremely remote period. While Prof. Newton is disposed to regard 
the amount of black in the plumage as an individual peculiarity, Dr. Sharpe 
believes that the pure white plumage occurs only in the oldest birds, and then 
only in the male sex. In length the snowy owl measures upwards of 26 inches. 
The snowy owl has a circumpolar distribution, inhabiting the northern 
regions of both hemispheres, and straggling southwards in winter. Common 
in Lewis, and blown over to the east coasts of Scotland in considerable 
numbers, and likewise visiting Ireland in winter, the snowy owl does not breed 
in any portion of the British Islands. Found in Iceland during the winter, 
it is a permanent resident in Scandinavia, Greenland, and Northern Russia; 
while in winter it ranges all through Siberia to Amurland, and has been taken in 
Poland and Lithuania, as also at Peshawur. Although rare in Spitzbergen, it is 
common in Novaia Zemlia and on the northern coast of Asia. At the present day 
this owl is very rarely seen in the south of England, but during the Pleistocene 
period it appears to have been not uncommon, the bone represented on p. 140 
having been obtained from a cave in Devonshire. And it is noteworthy that 
during the period in question, lemmings, which now form such a large portion of 
the prey of this species, were also common in England. In America this owl 
ranges as far south as Texas. The open and desolate moss-covered tundras of 
Northern Siberia and Lapland, as well as the corresponding regions of North 
America, are the favourite haunts of the snowy owl. A shy bird, hunting both 
by day and night, and endowed with noiseless though powerful flight, it falls 
suddenly on its prey, which is always immediately devoured on the spot. In the 
Old World its food consists of lemmings, young sea-birds, ptarmigan, grouse, ducks, 
and, it is said, the Arctic fox and hare; while in the Trans-Baikal districts 
