ON THE ORNITHOLOGY OF LAPLAND. 261 



occasion, when taking the eggs out of a dead pine, 

 without a branch to help him, holding on, as the 

 sailors say, "by his eyelids," forty feet from the 

 ground, the old bird made a swoop down on his 

 head, struck off his cap (through the top of which 

 a large slit was cut), and in a moment returned to 

 the charge, tearing off a very fair- sized claw- full of 

 his hair. I was standing below, and knocked the 

 old bird over ; and had I not been at the bottom 

 of the tree with my gun, the lad might easily have 

 been beaten off his hazardous perch. There is no 

 trouble in shooting the hawk owl if you have only 

 a dog in the forest ; for, whatever time of year it 

 may be, as soon as ever the bird spies a dog below 

 him, it always descends to give battle. 



In flight, manners, and appearance, the hawk 

 owl is closely allied to the hawks. It is strictly 

 diurnal in its habits, and to the stealthy quiet 

 flight of the owl adds the spirit and courage of tli< i 

 falcon. Hardly a forest bird is safe from the 

 attacks of these owls. I have seen them strike 

 down the Siberian jay, their closest neighbour, on 

 the wing, and more than once have I disturbed 

 them feeding on the old willow-grouse, a bird half 

 as large again as themselves. Their principal 

 food appears to be birds, lemming, and wood- 

 mice ; but I have often taken insects out of their 

 stomachs. There is little difference in the 



