less incubated.” In Lapland Wolley several times met with
people who had found nests of this species, and was told
that the birds sometimes attack persons who approach their
homes. He never succeeded in obtaining the eggs; but in
1848, Prof. Lilljeborg found a nest on the fells between
(Esterdal and Gudbrandsdal in the middle of Norway; and
in 1862 Wheelwright procured six eggs from a nest found
by some Laplanders to the north of Quickjock in Sweden.
Since then many have been obtained both from northern
Lapland and from Labrador, and specimens may be seen in
many collections. Richardson, whose long sojourn in the
Fur countries of North America renders him an excellent
authority, when describing the habits of the Snowy Owl
says :—“ I t hunts in the d ay ; and, indeed, unless it could
do so, it would be unfit to pass the summer within the
Arctic Circle. When seen on the barren grounds, it was
generally squatting on the earth, and, if put up, it alighted
again after a short flight; but was always so wary as to be
approached with great difficulty. In the wooded districts it
shows less caution ; and, according to Hearne, has been
known to watch the Grouse-shooters a whole day, for the
purpose of sharing in the spoil. On such occasions, it
perches on a high tree, and when a bird is shot, skims
down and carries it off before the sportsman can get near it.
It preys on lemmings, hares, and birds, particularly the
Willow-grouse and Ptarmigan. Mr. Hutchins says that it
eats carrion; and Wilson informs us that it is a dexterous
fisher, grasping its finny prey with an instantaneous stroke
of the foot as it sails along near the surface of the water,
or sits on a stone in a shallow stream. I have seen it
pursue the American hare on the wing, making repeated
strokes at the animal with its foot.”
In illustration of this last habit it may be stated that in
Sweden the common name for the Snowy Owl is Harfdng
or “ Hare-cateher; ” and in corroboration of its propensity
for carrion, as mentioned by Hutchins, reference may be
made to the observation of Admiral von Wrangell, during
his perilous expedition to the Polar Sea, that it “ follows the
White Bear to feed on the remains of its prey.” Notwithstanding
this fact the flesh of the Snowy Owl, the bird
being usually exceedingly fat, is held in high esteem as an
article of food by the Laplanders, and, according to Mr.
Reeks, by the settlers in Newfoundland. There is little doubt
that the same taste was common to the ancient inhabitants of
the South of France, since the bones of this bird, associated
with those of the Rein-Deer and other northern animals,
have been recognized by Prof. Alphonse Milne-Edwards
among the kitchen-refuse found in caverns there, testifying
thus to the existence of an Arctic climate at a former epoch
in that now sunny region.
The weird appearance of this species, combined with the
desolation of its haunts and the stories told of its attacks
on passers-by render it an object of considerable dread
among the less-educated Laplanders, and on one occasion
a boy asked Wolley, if it could really be a bird. Wheelwright,
writing of the species, says :— “ Its shriek when on the wing
resembles a loud ‘ krau-au,’ repeated three or four times ; but
it is seldom heard except when the bird is excited. Some of
the movements of this bird are very extraordinary, and I once
saw one fall from a considerable height on to the ground,
where it lay for some time perfectly motionless, with outstretched
wings, as if it were shot. I tried to come up
within gunshot, but it rose out of distance, and sailed away
uttering a wild loud cry, ‘ Rick, rick, rick,’ as if mocking
me.” Other observers describe the note of this species as a
low, whining wail.
To return to the localities visited by this bird in our own
day. It has been met with in Denmark and is said to have
occurred in Holland, and once in northern France. Further
eastward it is less scarce, and according to Dr. Borggreve it
visited Prussia and Pomerania in considerable numbers in
the winters of 1858-59 and 1865-66. The same authority
also states that it has occurred in Silesia and Upper Lusatia,
while, on Herr von Pelzeln’s shewing, it would seem to have
once occurred in Lower Austria. As with so many other
species its limits in Asia are not to be traced, but Mr.