366 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



the mainstay of the seven pairs of owls and their combined families which I had 

 under observation. I destroyed six of the nests, procuring both old birds in each 

 instance, but I decided to watch the seventh nest to the bitter end, hoping to see 

 a reversion to the rodent diet, but it was useless. After the first hatching of 

 ptarmigan it was but seldom I found rodent signs about the nest. Game birds, 

 instead, by the score went to satisfy the lust of these perpetual hunters. * * * 

 I estimate carefully and with no wish to exaggerate that a single snowy owl 

 will destroy three hundred game birds in a year. The average conception among 

 the hunters is that it is twice that many, and they may be right. I, myself, have 

 seen one bird kill three full grown ptarmigan within an hour. 



Frank L. Farley has sent me the following note: "On April 25, 1931, 

 when driving with C. L. Broly, of Winnipeg, in the vicinity of Rosser, 

 Manitoba, a snowy owl, carrying a crow in its claws, appeared from 

 the rear, and cut across the road immediately in front of the car. It 

 alighted in a field near a fence post and at once commenced to eat its 

 prey. No sooner had he taken his position than a number of crows, 

 estimated at about 30, came flying in from the same direction as that 

 from which the owl appeared and formed a circle around the owl. For 

 a minute or two there was a noisy commotion, with a stretching of 

 necks, but none of the crows dared approach the owl nearer than 10 

 or 12 feet. The racket kept up for a few minutes, after which the 

 crows left the scene in twos and threes. Some of them headed for 

 woods as far distant as two miles." 



W. Sprague Brooks (1915) says: "Practically all the Short-eared 

 Owls I trapped were eaten immediately by Snowy Owls so keen is 

 their sight." 



William Brewster (1925) writes: "In mid-winter, about the year 

 1850, according to my notes, a man named Abbott, living not far from 

 the post office on Upton Hill, surprised a Snowy Owl in the act of 

 killing a hen directly under his barn, and dispatched it with a club, for 

 instead of attempting to escape, it faced him boldly, and refused to 

 relinquish its prize. It must have been hard pressed by hunger to 

 behave thus rashly." 



Bernhard Hantzsch (1929) says: "They also catch fish and other 

 small marine animals, where water places remain open, but are 

 otherwise satisfied with every possible animal matter, even bits of 

 meat refuse near human dwellings. In general, they seem to get 

 along quite well, since they are almost always fat. Therefore they 

 are hunted by the Eskimos and eaten not unwillingly." 



Audubon (1840) describes their method of catching fish as follows: 



While watching for their prey on the borders of the "pots," they invariably 

 lay flat on the rock, with the body placed lengthwise along the border of the 

 hole, the head also laid down, but turned towards the water. One might have 

 supposed the bird sound asleep, as it would remain in the same position until a 

 good opportunity of securing a fish occurred, which I believe was never missed; 

 for, as the latter unwittingly rose to the surface, near the edge, that instant the 



