SNOWY owl 365 



the hares was caused by the owl, which had certainly made an attack on them, 

 and was now sitting awaiting their return from the cave. * * * 



In the dusk and by night, when the Lemmings venture to go farther around, 

 the Snowy Owl will hunt them, flying Kestrel-like and keeping itself on flapping 

 wings over a certain spot before it strikes. 



Dr. Nelson (1887) says: 



The Eskimo are well acquainted with these birds and with their habits, and 

 one man told me he had seen these owls catch the large Arctic hare by planting 

 one foot in the hare's back and stretching the other foot back and dragging its 

 claws on the snow and ground; at the same time the bird used its wings to hold 

 back, by reversed strokes, until the hare soon became exhausted, when it was easily 

 killed. 



On the Lower Mackenzie, Richardson relates that one of the Hudson's Bay 

 Company's Factors, Mr. McPherson, saw one of these owls fly over a cliff and 

 carry off a full fledged Duck Hawk in its claws. It crossed the river to the 

 farther bank, where it lit on the shore to devour its prey. The parent hawk 

 followed, uttering loud screams, and, darting down with great rapidity, killed 

 the owl with a single stroke, but whether with wing or claw could not be deter- 

 mined. After this summary act of vengeance the falcon returned to its nest. 



This owl also pre3 r s upon ducks, as Stejneger saw it pursue sea ducks on the 

 reefs of Bering Island. 



The snowy owl has been known to kill a number of species of birds, 

 the principal items being tender small birds to feed its young, and 

 ptarmigans and water birds in winter, when mammal food is not so 

 easy to obtain. The list includes grebes, small gulls, various sea birds, 

 ducks, young geese, coots, various shorebirds, ptarmigans and other 

 grouse, and small passerine birds. 



Mr. Murie (1929) says: 



The food of the snowy owl varied with the character of the nesting ground. 

 Those on the marsh in the immediate vicinity of great numbers of nesting water- 

 birds fed extensively on birds, both old and young. Others, nesting on drier 

 ground farther from the concentration of waterfowl, maintained throughout the 

 season a diet consisting almost exclusively of mice. In marshy areas remains of 

 young emperor geese and cackling geese and adult old-squaws, eiders, and other 

 ducks, were found. * * * A pair of emperor geese built their nest in the 

 margin of a pond, not more than 50 yards from the nest of a pair of snowy owls. 

 One goose incubated the eggs, and I frequently saw its mate swimming near by. 

 A pair of glaucous gulls nested on an island in the same pond. The owls evidently 

 did not molest them. The geese hatched out their young and left the vicinity, 

 after which I did not have them under observation. 



Frank Dufresne (1922) writes: 



Their food during the nesting period consisted mainly of moles and ground 

 squirrels with only an occasional ptarmigan, curlew or plover. However, I 

 observed that at this time the female ptarmigan were setting, perfectly concealed, 

 and that the male bird lay quietly close by. It was apparent, therefore, that the 

 more active rodents were more conspicuous and suffered thereby. 



As soon as the young ptarmigan hatched my observations of the snowy owl 

 became a record of slaughter. I had no way of telling exactly how many were 

 eaten on account of the softness of the bones, but I do know that rodent regur- 

 gitations practically ceased at this time. Ptarmigan, both old and young, became 



