Mr. W. Thompson on the Migration of the Snowy OwL 107 



XIII. — Note on the Migration of the Snowy Owl, Surnia nyctea, 

 Dam. By Wm. Thompson, Esq., Vice-President of the 

 Natural History Society of Belfast. 



I have the pleasure on this occasion of recording a novel and 

 interesting fact in the history of that beautiful bird, the 

 Snowy Owl. By the ship ( John and Robert' (Captain 

 McKechnie), of 501 tons burden, belonging to the port of 

 Belfast, and which arrived here from Quebec early in the 

 month of December last, three specimens of this bird, which 

 had been caught on board, were brought hither alive. A 

 fourth individual, similarly obtained, died about the time the 

 vessel entered Belfast bay. 



These birds were captured either at twilight or when dark, 

 as they perched on the rigging ; the sailors observing that 

 they were asleep before attempting to lay hold of them. 

 They were kept on flesh-meat, which, for the first ten days, 

 was forced down their throats, but after this time they fed 

 themselves ; in about fifteen days after their capture the ves- 

 sel came into port. These three birds, of which two are 

 males and the other a female, are very fine examples of the 

 Surnia nyctea ; a more splendid specimen than the last- 

 mentioned, which died and is now in my possession, I have 

 not seen. All of them I should consider birds of the year, 

 and from the one that died having been described to me as 

 similar to mine, it probably was so likewise*. 



Having heard that these were part of a large " flight" of 

 Snowy Owls that were for several days seen about the vessel, 

 I — never having read any account of this species being met 

 with on its migration — made the fullest inquiry into the sub- 

 ject. The captain obligingly replied to all my queries, and 

 besides furnished me with the log-book of the ship. 



It may in the first place be desirable to give an extract 



from the ( log' for a week previous to their occurrence, that 



Ave may learn if the state of the wind, &c, will account for the 



* See remarks on this subject in the 1st vol. of ' Annals', p. 243. Two 

 of the Snowy Owls there noticed, which have since been kept in a spacious 

 garden containing many fruit trees, never perch upon them, but remain 

 constantly on the ground, although in rainy weather a portion of their snow- 

 white plumage is thereby much soiled, greatly to the disadvantage of their 

 appearance. 



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