SNOWY DAY -OWL. 415 



manner usually considered as indicative of youth ; but it had 

 moulted in the previous autumn, and when procured had the 

 markings still larger. It died in the beginning of April, when 

 its body having been sent to me by Dr Neill, I had an oppor- 

 tunity, for the first time, of examining the interior of a Snowy 

 Owl. As already mentioned, its digestive organs have been 

 described and figured in my First Volume. 



An individual kept by Mr MaccuUoch of Pictou, was at first 

 very timid, and ultimately very gentle. Of three young birds 

 reared from the nest, as mentioned by Mr Thompson, two were 

 wild, sometimes fasting for one or two days, though food was 

 within reach, while the other, a female, was somewhat playful 

 and quite familiar even with strangers. These birds were not 

 affected by bright sunshine, and were capable of observing birds 

 passing at a great height in the air. 



M. Temminck states that the Snowy Owl " nestles in steep 

 rocks, or on the old pines of the frozen regions ; and lays two 

 eggs," which, according to M. Vieillot, are marked with black 

 spots, but, according to other naturalists, of a pure white. Dr 

 Richardson says that in the northern regions of America it 

 " makes its nest on the ground, and lays three or four white 

 eggs, of which two only are in general hatched." 



Young. — According to M. Temminck, the young are at first 

 " covered with a brown down, and their first feathers are also 

 of a light brown." Dr Edmondston, it has been seen above, 

 was informed that three young birds " of a brown colour 

 sprinkled with grey" had been seen in Shetland. Mr Audu- 

 bon says " I have shot specimens which were, as I thought, 

 so young as to be nearly of a uniform light brown tint, and 

 which puzzled me for several years, as I had at first conceived 

 them to be of a difierent species. This indeed led me to think 

 that, when young, these birds are brown." Afterwards how- 

 ever he declares that the young are " pure white." The truth 

 appears to be that from personal observation no ornithologist 

 can say whether they be pure white or pure scarlet. Mr 

 Thompson however has thrown some light on the subject. In 

 the Annals of Natural History, Vol. I, p. 242, he states that his 



