Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/174

138 its wings several times as if intending to fly off'; but, with some care, it was approached and shot. It proved to be a fine old female, the plumage of which was almost pure white. I have heard of individuals having been seen as far down the Mississippi as the town of Memphis. Some Indians assured me that they had shot one at the mouth of the Red River ; and, while on the Arkansas River, I was frequently told of a large White Owl that had been seen there during winter.

So much has been said to me of its breeding in the northern parts of the State of Maine, that this may possibly be correct. In Nova Scotia they are abundant at the approach of winter; and Professor Mac Culloch, of the University of Pictou, shewed me several beautiful specimens in his fine collection of North American Birds. Of its place and mode of breeding I know nothing ; for, although every person to whom I spoke of this bird while in Labrador knew it, my party saw none there ; and in Newfoundland we were equally unsuccessful in our search.

Sims. NYCTEA, Linn. Sj'st. Nat. vol. i. p. 132 La^/i. Index Ornith. vol. i. p. 57 — Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 36. — Swains, and Richards, Fauna Bor. Americ. vol. i. p. 88.

Snowy Owl, Strix nyctea, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 53. pi. 32. fig. I. — Nul. tall, Manual, vol. i. p. 116.

Adult Male. Plate CXXI. Fig. 1.

Bill short, compressed, curved, acute, with a small cere at the base ; upper mandible with its dorsal outline curved from the base, the edges sharp, the point trigonal, very acute, deflected ; lower mandible with the edges sharp and inflected, the tip obtuse. Nostrils roundish, in the fore part of the cere, concealed. J)y the recumbent bristles. Head very large, although proportionally smaller than in most other owls, as are the eyes and external ears. Body short. Legs of ordinary length ; tarsus feathered, as are the toes, on which, however, are two scutella; claws curved, slender, rounded, extremely sharp.

The plumage is soft but compact above, blended beneath, and in general remarkable for its bulk and elasticity. The feet are thickly clothed with long shaggy feathers, and the eyes are surrounded by circles of bristly feathers with disunited barbs. Wings ample, the third quill longest; the secondaries very broad and rounded. Tail of moderate length, slightly rounded, of twelve very broad rounded feathers.