368 BULLETIN 17 0, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



The snowy owl is reported as being quite aggressive in its attacks 

 on intruders near its nest. Dr. Sutton (1932) says that, as he ap- 

 proached a nest — 



The owl came straight toward me from the adjacent ridge, until he was about 

 thirty yards away. Here he abruptly turned and circled, hooting angrily. As 

 he flew he sank forward heavily after every wing stroke, then righted himself 

 with the downward beat of his wings, looking back oddly as he flew past, never 

 taking his narrowed eyes from me. I looked all over the ridge crest, but found 

 only tracks in the snow and a few loose feathers. Occasionally when I took my 

 eyes from the circling bird he suddenly flew down at me and I could hear the 

 rush of his great wings and the sullen snapping of his beak not far above my head. 

 It was thrilling to look into his glaring golden eyes, but I found myself hoping 

 that he would not strike me with his talons, which hung down menacingly. 



Hantzsch (1929) says: "On 16th October, while I was looking at 

 some Actodromus fuscicollis [White-rumped Sandpiper] with the glass 

 on the beach at Hebron, I suddenly heard directly behind me a strong 

 rushing of wings and a deep, angry Krohgogogok, almost like a raven, 

 but not quite so hoarse. Turning about I espied a Snowy Owl which 

 had attacked me, flew quickly about me a few more times with 

 remarkably rapid jerking motions of the wings and at the same time 

 uttering its note. But when I pointed the gun at it, it disappeared 

 quickly behind the hills." 



Alfred M. Bailey (1926) says that, while he was approaching a nest 

 containing young, "the old male, a fine white specimen, kept circling 

 overhead, occasionally making a hoarse Vho-who'. He would sail 

 up against the wind, then circling, would dart within a few feet of us, 

 paying special attention to my Airedale. He once struck the dog 

 with his talons, causing the bewildered Jerry to drop to the ground 

 with a bleeding ear. The speed with which the owl could drop from 

 the sky on folded wings was a revelation, and time and again I found 

 myself dodging from his fierce onslaught." 



Voice. — Already mentioned above are the "deep, angry Krohgo- 

 gogok, almost like a raven, but not quite so hoarse" (Hantzsch, 1929), 

 and the "hoarse who-who" (Bailey, 1926). Mrs. Celia Thaxter 

 (1875) says: "I have never heard them cry like other owls; when dis- 

 turbed or angry, they make a sound like a watchman's rattle, very 

 loud and harsh, or they whistle with intense shrillness, like a human 

 being." And Nuttall (1832) writes: "His loud, hollow, barking 

 growl, whowh, whowh, whowh, hah, hah, hah (these latter syllables with 

 the usual quivering sound of the Owl), and other more dismal cries, 

 sound like the unearthly ban of Cerberus; and heard amidst a region 

 of cheerless solitude, his lonely and terrific voice augments rather 

 than relieves the horrors of the scene." 



Field marks. — The snowy owl could hardly be mistaken for any- 

 thing else. The color pattern of the white gyrfalcon, which might 

 be seen under similar circumstances, is much like it, but the shapes 



