THE MUSEUM. 



A Monthly Magazine Devoted to Research in Natural Science. 



Vol. IV. 



ALBION, N. Y., JULY 15, 1898. 



No. 9 



Notes on the Snowy Owl in Cap- 

 tivity- 



.\s I reside in a part of Manitoba in 

 which during the winter months A'li - 

 tiii nyitcn is often very abundant I 

 think a few notes on this species will 

 not come amiss to the readers of the 

 Mlsel'm; so sit down to make a few 

 notes on a pair I possessed during the 

 past winter. 



The beautiful Snowy Owl is quite 

 an abundant bird with us some win- 

 ters and as far as my observations go 

 I can give no cause for the peculiar- 

 ities of these migrations. 



The winter of 1889, the first I spent 

 here, they were very abundant com- 

 ing to us as early as October about 

 the 5th of the month during a cold 

 snap when the mercury reached 12 

 degrees below ^ero, and staying till 

 May, all through the winter, which was 

 not very severe. I observed them ev- 

 erywhere I went and noticed a great 

 many white or almost white ones 

 among thern. 



Again in 1S93 they appeared early, 



about the middle of October, and in 



large numbers, being equally plentiful 



all through the wmter, the last one I 



saw being on a fence post on the 



lOth of May; and again this winter 



they visited us in very large numbery, 



being plentiful all winter. I nolice<] 



the first arrival on the 24th of October 



nd although the winter has been mild 



nd but little snow they remained with 



3 imtil the latter end of April. 



About 60 birds of this species have 



; assed through my hands this winter, 



•1 all, of which not one was pure 



vhite, there being a few black spot.s 



n the crown of the head and a few 



•narks on the wing pin feathers of the 



hitest 



However, to return to my subject. 



In November I bought a pair from a 

 boy who trapped them and kept them 

 in a pen to observe their habits, but as 

 they were so plentiful I advertised 

 them and disposed of them to a Mr. 

 Clark of Huntsville, Ohio, and a few 

 days after I secured another pair. 

 These were also trapped and soon got 

 over their swollen legs and became 

 lively enough for Owls. I got another 

 pair about two weeks later and as I 

 was very busy I put them all in the 

 same cage which unfortunately was 

 none too large for the comfort of its 

 occupants. 



However they got along very well 

 till near the middle of April when they 

 became restless and during early 

 morning and evening hours made most 

 persevering efforts to escape but with- 

 out success. About this time I built 

 a large house for them 14x10 ft. where 

 I put them hoping my labors might be 

 rewarded by a set of pretty white eggs, 

 but I noticed one of them, the largest 

 and darkest, was mopish and did not 

 take food and after a couple of days 

 it shuflled off its mortal coil without 

 further notice. A post mortem e.\- 

 amination developed the fact that it 

 was a female with some %vell devel- 

 oped eggs in its ovary. What was 

 the cause of its decease I could not 

 ascertain, but I was afraid it got hurt 

 by the other birds in their efforts to 

 escape in answer to the instinct that 

 tells them to repair to the northern 

 latitudes at the approach of warm 

 weather. This left me with but three 

 of my pets on hand and I soon dis- 

 covered what I had feared, that they 

 were all males. I kept them till June 

 when my absence leaving them in 

 danger of starvation I gave them their 

 liberty and they went on to the north 

 to spend the hot summer months in 

 their cool Arctic home. 



