Vol. XIX 

 1902 



n Deaxe. Unuiital Abmidaticc of the Snozvy Ozvl. 28 1 



Ontario about the 20th of December, 1901. Nearly all my corre- 

 spondents give the 25th as the date when their abundance was 

 first noticeable. From then on to about the 15 th of January, 

 1902, the owls were spread over the southwestern portion of the 

 Province in sufficient numbers to attract attention. In Toronto 

 the number killed was not less than sixty, and about the same 

 number were accounted for by my correspondents elsewhere. 

 The number killed in Ontario must have greatly exceeded this 

 estimate. All the birds taken during the early part of the flight 

 that I examined were males, and it was not until well on in January 

 that females were at all abundant. The east shore of Lake 

 Huron, from Bruce Peninsula to Sarnia, at the mouth of the St. 

 Clair River, was visited by Snowy Owls in considerable numbers, 

 and they spread through the counties of Middlesex, Oxford and 

 Wellington ; the Georgian Bay seems to have been visited only 

 by stragglers. None were reported from Owen Sound. All 

 the country surrounding Lake Simcoe was visited by these owls 

 in more than usual numbers. The birds do not seem to have 

 occurred in the districts of Muskoka and Parry Sound, except 

 casually. I have only one record. They appear to have avoided 

 the wooded country, preferring the older settled country along the 

 Great Lakes. I have no information about the north shore of 

 Lake Erie, and very little from east of Toronto, but a line drawn 

 through Ontario from Orillia to Toronto, almost due south, would 

 mark the eastern limit of their abundance during the flight, which 

 may have extended along the north shore of Lake Ontario to 

 Kingston, but my information is not sufficient to be certain. I 

 did not pay particular attention to the food question. The birds 

 were all in 'good condition, and outside of Toronto a good many 

 were either shot or trapped while feeding on dead horses or cattle. 

 About Toronto wounded ducks were probably picked up, the 

 Toronto Marsh abounds in field mice, and much fish ofi^al and 

 carrion would be available. Part of the flight has remained in 

 Ontario for the rest of the winter, but the main body passed 

 further to the south or southeast." 



Mr. William Holliday of Guelph, Ont., forty-eight miles west 

 of Toronto, writes me under date of March 7, 1902: 



"Judging from the number of Snowy Owls I have mounted 



