308 HISTORY OF THE 



islands of Behring Sea, and more sparingly upon the Aleutian 

 chain, where it is rare. It is resident at Point Barrow, and 

 also on the Near Islands. On Behring Island it has become 

 abundant since the introduction of mice. On June 12, 1877, 

 we were on a vessel about seventy-five miles east of the Fur Sea 

 Islands, when one of these birds came on board and remained 

 most of the night in the rigging, but left early in the morning. 



" The Eskimo are well acquainted with these birds and with 

 their habits, and one man told me he had seen these Owls catch 

 the large Arctic hare by planting one foot in the hare's back, 

 and stretching the other foot back and dragging its claws on 

 the snow and ground. At the same time the bird used his 

 wings to hold back, by reverse strokes, until the hare soon be- 

 came exhausted, when it was easily killed. 



"On the lower Mackenzie, Richardson relates that one of the 

 Hudson's Bay Company's factors, Mr. McPherson, saw one of 

 these Owls fly over a cliff and carry off a full-fledged Duck 

 Hawk in its claws. It crossed the river to the other bank, 

 where it lit on the shore to devour its prey. The parent Hawk 

 followed, uttering loud .screams, and, darting down with great 

 rapidity, killed the Owl with a single stroke, but whether with 

 the wing or claw could not be determined. After this summary 

 act of vengence the Falcon returned to its nest. 



"This Owl also preys upon Ducks, as Stejneger saw it pur- 

 sue Sea Ducks on the reefs of Behring Island. 



"North of Hudson Straits Kumlien found Snowy Owls rather 

 scarce during the winter, and saw them hunting during the day, 

 but notes their excessive shyness. This shyness seems to be 

 characteristic of the bird through its northern range, and even 

 upon the lonely and almost unknown Wrangel Island, where, 

 upon our landing, one of the birds was seen, it arose hastily 

 and left for the interior, although we were about two hundred 

 yards from it when it first caught sight of us. It has been re- 

 ported as a resident of the Aleutian Islands, where Dall saw a 

 dead bird and fragments of skins of others at Unalsaka. It is 

 more common in the northern part of the Territory, where its 

 distribution, however, is irregular, it being abundant at one sea- 



