90 Bird-Nesting 



Scotch naturalist, Thomas Edwards. It is a common summer 

 resident in Iceland, Norway, Lapland and Finland. The 

 snowy owl frequents marshes, and its habits are similar to the 

 short-eared owl, and, like that bird, it makes its nest on the 

 ground. A clutch of eight eggs in my collection are from 

 Finnmark, and were taken May 25th, 1886 ; the nest was on 

 the ground, in a swamp, and consisted of a pile of rushes 

 with a hollow at the top lined with feathers. The food of the 

 snowy owl consists of hares, muskrats and other small ani- 

 mals, as well as birds. The true home of this bird is in the 

 frozen north, and its plumage is well adapted to stand the 

 cold climate, as scarcely a point is exposed. The bill is almost 

 hidden in a mass of feathers that cover the face, the legs are 

 clothed with such long, thick, hair-like plumage as to appear 

 nearly as thick as those of a middle-sized dog, the claws only 

 being visible ; these are large, black, much hooked and ex- 

 tremely sharp. The entire plumage below the surface is of 

 the most exquisitely soft, warm and elastic kind, and so closely 

 matted together as to make it a difficult matter to penetrate 

 to the skin. The snowy owl is a regular winter visitor to the 

 island opposite Toronto, and I have a handsome specimen that 

 was shot there during the fall of 1889. Our local taxidermist 

 usually receives a dozen specimens to preserve every winter, and 

 I have seen specimens hung up in the poultry stores. During 

 October, 1889, I saw a snowy owl six miles north of Toronto, 

 it was perched on a tree and flew off as I approached. I had 

 not a gun with me, but I followed the bird from tree to tree 

 and from one patch of timber to another, often getting pretty 

 close to it. It was late in the afternoon and getting dusk, but 

 so interested was I in this bird that I followed it until I lost 

 my way. A.S it was fast getting dark I began to get alarmed, 

 and looked around for the light of some farm house so that I 

 might inquire in which direction Toronto lay : I crossed from 

 one wood to another, until at last I came across a narrow road 

 and followed this for nearly a mile, but found it only led to 

 some fields, so I turned back again and followed the road in 

 the other direction ; it was now dark and very chilly, and I 



