152 STRIGIDJS. 



tory, vol. viii. page 508 : " Last week I received from 

 Mr. S earth, Sanda, Orkney, a living specimen of the Snowy 

 Owl. This was not a native specimen, but evidently a 

 bird of last year, in immature plumage, but whose ex- 

 panded wings extend four feet in width. This bird ar- 

 rived in Orkney during a strong north-west gale, with 

 hail and sleet, along with flocks of wild Swans, Golden- 

 eyes, snow flakes, &c. ; indicating an Icelandic or Green- 

 land origin." 



A notice of one taken still more recently has appeared 

 in several periodicals devoted to Natural History. On the 

 13th of February last (1837), a fine male Snowy Owl was 

 shot three miles below Selby-on-the-Moor, Yorkshire, 

 where it had been observed by a miller, at a mill adjoining, 

 for a day or two previous. The moor is well stocked 

 with rabbits, and the Owl was most probably preying 

 upon them: it appeared very shy, and when pinioned 

 by the shot was extremely fierce,* Several specimens 

 have also been killed in different parts of Ireland, the 

 particulars of which are recorded by Mr. Thompson of 

 Belfast, in his history of the Birds of Ireland. 



Other examples of this large owl have occurred, one in 

 Sutherlandshire, two in Aberdeenshire, one of them in the 

 spring of 1850; another in December, 1851, was shot by 

 the bailiff of Sir William Fielder : this bird had been seen 

 preying on a young lamb. I learn from Sir William 

 Milner that a specimen now in his collection was obtained 

 not long since in Yorkshire. 



The Snowy Owl inhabits Sweden, Norway, Lapland, 

 and the north of Europe generally. The Swedish name of 

 Harfang is bestowed upon it in consequence of its apparent 

 partiality to feeding upon hares. It inhabits also Iceland 

 and Greenland. Several pairs were seen during the sum- 

 * Magazine of Zoology and Botany, vol. ii. p. 93. 



