92 Proceedings of the Boyal Physical Society. 



Franz Josef Land remains to be ascertained, but the prob- 

 ability is that it is a mere casual in that inhospitable region. 



4. *Nyctea scandiaca (Linn.). 



Strix oiivea, Payer, op. cit., ii. p. 91. 



Nyctea scandiaca, Neale, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1882, x^p. 653, 654. 



The collection contains an adult female Snowy Owl, which 

 was caught by Mr Wilton, near Cape Flora, on the 26th of 

 August 1896. 



This species appears to be not uncommon about Cape 

 Flora ; but whether it is a straggler to Franz Josef Land — 

 where Lemmings and Ptarmigan appear to be unknown — or 

 a summer visitor, is at present a matter of conjecture : Mr 

 Bruce inclines to the latter belief. 



Dr Neale remarks that it was the first bird to arrive at 

 Cape Flora in the spring of 1882, a Snowy Owl having 

 appeared there on the 8th of February, and again on the 

 16th and 19th of that month. 



[The Owl captured by Mr Wilton must have been ailing, 

 for, as a rule, one cannot get within rifle-shot of these birds. 

 They were frequently seen at Cape Flora in the summer and 

 autumn of 1896, and they preyed upon young birds, chiefly 

 the young Looms. The first for 1897 was seen by Mr 

 Hey ward on the 29th of May, and Mr Wilton saw one on 

 the following day. 



The nest of this Owl was not found, and it must remain 

 uncertain whether this bird breeds in Franz Josef Land. 

 Very likely it does, but I doubt whether it bred at Cape 

 Flora in 1897.— W. S. B.] 



5. Falco sp. inc. 



Falco candicans, Neale, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1882, pp. 653, 654. 



Dr Neale refers to the Greenland Falcon, the "Falcon 

 Hawk," seen on the 20th of April 1882, at or near Cape 

 Flora. No species of diurnal bird of prey came under the 

 notice of Mr Bruce and his companions during their sojourn 

 in the archipelago, nor, indeed, has any been recorded by 

 other explorers of Franz Josef Land. 



