64 PONDS, PADDOCKS, AND AVIARIES 



''April ibth, 1889. 



" The poor fellow who sent me the consignment of 

 Scandinavian owls last year died about three months ago, 

 and I heard this morning from his widow that all the 

 owls in that part of Finland have failed this year, many 

 old birds having been picked up dead, many young found 

 dead in the nests, and endless rotten eggs in abandoned 

 nests. In fact, I gather that out of fifty nests only one 

 contained living young, and those in such a weakly state 

 that the finder would not take them. I fancy this 

 account refers chiefly to the hawk owl (5. funerea) and 

 Tengmalm's (6". tengmalmi) and in a less degree to the 

 Lapp owl {^S. lapponicum), but I have asked for further 

 details." 2 



" October 2nd, 1889. 

 " I have had a long letter sent to me in Swedish by 

 the widow of the poor fellow who procured the Scandina- 

 vian owls for me last year, written to her by her cousin, 

 who was the main agent in finding and forwarding the 

 birds from Lapland. He attributes the failure of the 

 owls this year to the death of small rodents and snipes, 

 caused by the protracted snows. I imagine that by 

 ' snipes ' he means small waders of all kinds, which of 

 course would be prevented from nesting in the morasses 

 of Scandinavia by snow lying on their usual feeding- 

 grounds. It would seem that last year there was an 



1 To E. G. B. MeadeWaldo, Esq. 



