more or less spotted and barred with dark umber brown,
according to the age of the individual; these dark marks becoming
smaller and smaller every succeeding year, until in
very old individuals from high northern latitudes the whole
plumage becomes pure white, without any spots whatever.
The brown mark when present is situated towards the end of
the feather bearing i t ; and upon the feathers of the under
surface these markings are semilunar in shape, while those on
the feathers covering the back and wings are more linear.
The feathers forming the incomplete facial disk, those of the
upper part of the breast, and also the downy feathers defending
the legs and toes, are pure white : the beak and claws are
black ; both are partially hidden by feathers ; the latter are
long, curved, and very sharp. The irides are bright orange
yellow. The whole length of the Snowy Owl is from twenty
two to twenty-seven inches, the difference depending on
the sex: the females are much the larger of the two. M.
Temmincksays the young birds are covered with brown down,
and their first feathers are also light brown.
The vignette below represents the crystalline lens and the
bony ring of the eye in this bird, which may be compared
with those of the Eagle at page 14, and both are referred to
at page 11.
RAPTORES.
ST RIGID M.
T H E H AW K OWL.
Koctua funerea, Canada Owl, Jenyns, Brit. Vert. p. 526.
Suruia „ Hawk Owl, G ould, Birds of Europe, pt. x.
Strix „ Chouette caparacoch, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. vol. i. p. 86.
A n Own of this species, preserved in the collection of
Dr. Birkitt of Waterford, was taken on board a collier, a
few miles off the coast of Cornwall, in March 1830, being
at the time in so exhausted a state as to allow itself to be
captured by the hand. On the arrival of the vessel at
Waterford, whither she was bound, the bird was given to a
friend of Dr. Birkitt, with whom it lived for a few weeks,
and then came into his possession. The very circumstantial