SNOWY OWL
376. Nyctea nyctea. 25 in.
No ear tufts. Plumage white, more or less heavily spotted with black, the female usually being quite strongly barred on the back. They are locally abundant in the far north, preferring low, mossy lands to the more timbered districts. Here they find an abundance of food during the summer months, living upon hares, lemmings, ptarmigan and ducks. They are about the equal of the [Horned Owl] in strength, and usually will weigh a few ounces more; they will frequently kill animals or birds as heavy, or heavier, than themselves. They also catch a great many fish; these they get in shallow water among the rock-weed covered stones, by reaching down quickly and seizing their prey in their strong claws.
Nest.—On the ground in dry portions of marshes; the 2 to 8 eggs are pure white.
Range.—Breeds from Labrador and Hudson Bay, northward, and possibly farther south; winters casually to the Middle States, and commonly to Minnesota and Maine.
