OF ARTS AXI) SCIENCES. 107 



Here they are confined to the river valley, and I know of a pair 

 which nests annually in a large grove of sugar maples by the 

 Saco River, and one or more of the family are often to be found 

 here throughout the summer. On June 18, 1900, I found the 

 brood of four young hardly out of the nest, all sitting erect and 

 motionless side by side on a maple branch, while one of the old 

 birds, in great excitement, flew from tree to tree with weird 

 cries of protest. Mr. F. B. Spaulding writes me that at I y ancas- 

 ter, in the upper Connecticut valley, he has seen it but a few 

 times, and never found it to breed. 



123. Bubo virginianus (Gmel.). Great Horned Owl. 

 A rather common resident throughout the well watered forest 

 areas of the state, but apparently rare in the White Mountains 

 themselves. Mr. G. H. Thayer writes me that it is present in 

 small numbers about Mt. Mouadnock ; Mr. C. F. Goodhue has 

 often had specimens from about Webster, and north of the 

 White Mountains it is not uncommon about the larger lakes 

 and streams. 



121. Nyctea nyctea (Iyinn.). Snowy Owl. 



An irregular late fall and winter visitant, sometimes occur- 

 ring in considerable numbers along the sea coast ; accidental in 

 summer. Mr. L,. J. Rundlett ('97) has recorded a " full-grown, 

 adult Snowy Owl." shot on the intervale near Concord, July 15, 

 1897. The previous week had been extremely hot, and the bird 

 is conjectured to have lived in a large ice-house near by, upon 

 the cupola of which it was shot. The sex of the specimen was 

 not determined. Mr. Rundlett informs me that it had been 

 seen a few days previous by some workmen, and that just before 

 it was killed, it had been started from the tall grass, where it 

 may have been searching for mice. This occurrence is, of 

 course, purely accidental. Mr. C. F. Goodhue ('77b) has re- 

 corded a specimen killed at Webster so early in the fall as just 

 previous to Oct. 10, 1877. Mr. Ned Dearborn ('98, p. 17) ad- 

 duces three records for Belknap and Merrimack Counties, and 

 Mr. H. L,. Piper informs me of having taken the bird in 

 winter near Rindge ; it is not infrequent throughout the Con- 



