Chris--

Thanks for your skeptical note about which owl--a Snowy or, as you aver
more likely, a Barn Owl--breathed its last outside my office
building in
downtown Tacoma.

I agree that the security man's identification of the owl is
certainly not
conclusive. And I also regret that I could not locate the
compacted corpse
of the owl, which had been squashed into one of a whole bunch of
large bundles
of cardboard and other stuff.

Indeed, I supposed, as you do, that the owl might have been a Barn
Owl, though
they too would be very unusual around here. Without identifying the
bird illustrations in advance for security man, I showed him
illustrations
of the Barn Owl (and Great Horned Owl) as well as the Snowy Owl. He
insisted
on the illustration of the Snowy Owl, even when I drew his
attention to the
face of the Barn Owl and asked him to imagine a pale-backed version of
the Barn Owl. But he had handled the dead bird, admired it and its
face, and
still said that it was big and all white (not pale), except for a
some dark "speckles"
or "sprinkles" here and there. (By "sprinkles," he may well have meant
any kind of dark streaking, barring, mottling, or whatever.)

I also talked to the custodial woman who had disposed of the bird, but
she hadn't inspected it as closely. She just knew that it was an owl.

So I dunno. That's the best we can do--maybe a Snowy Owl, maybe a
Barn Owl, Either one would be unusual.

Thanks.