NYCTEA.
Large size; uniform white or barred with dark brown; no ear tufts ; tarsi and toes feathered ; frequent open country ; diurnal as well as nocturnal; nest on ground or on a rock.
Nyctea nyctea (L.). SNOWY ow". Ger. Schneecule ; .Saved. Ilarfang.
a Pure white, rarely without a few brown spots. Iris yellow. Bill and claws blackish horn. Wing 40o-425. Tarsus Bill 20-23. 9 barred with brown, larger than Wing 435-452. Young like 9 but barring broader.
Range.—Circumpolar ; breeds open country and tundras of N. Europe, Norway to Urals (also N. Siberia and America), Jan Mayen, Nova Zcmbla, Spitzbcrgcn, Waigatz. Wanders south in winter to British Isles, France and Switzerland in W. Europe, and S. Russia to Black and Caspian Seas in east ; in Asia south to Japan and in America to north United States.