Snowy Owl
in ornithology, the Nyctea scandiaca, a native of the N. of Europe and America, visiting and breeding in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. In old birds the plumage is pure white, but in younger and adult birds each feather is tipped with dark brown or black. The length of the adult male is about 20 inches, that of the female four or five inches more. It flies by day and preys on the smaller mammalia and on various birds which it is able to capture.