ON THE OENITHOLOGY OF LAPLAND. 265 



I took her home in a small fishing creel, and cast- 

 ing in a titmouse which I had shot, found it nearly 

 devoured when I arrived home. I had her for a 

 long time in a cage, and a very pretty little pet 

 she was, becoming very tame. The call-note was 

 a very musical soft whistle, which, however, I 

 never heard except in the evening and night. I 

 could never detect the slightest difference in 

 plumage between the male and female. Till I 

 took the nest in "Wermland, no Swedish naturalist 

 appeared to be aware of the fact of this little owl 

 breeding so far south. We took our first nest at 

 Quickiock on May 2, and our last on May 30. In 

 Wermland we often take the nest in the end of April. 

 The lesser European sparrow owl (Strix pas- 

 serina, Lin., " sparf uggla," Sw.). No Swedish 

 naturalist seemed to be aware that this little owl 

 had so high a northern range as Lapland, nor did 

 I fancy so myself, for I always considered that the 

 midland forests of Sweden and Norway were its 

 proper habitat. As I had not succeeded in find- 

 ing the eggs at Quickiock, I began to feel con- 

 vinced that such was the case, but on July 12th 

 one of my lads brought me in a family an old 

 female and four young birds, which must have just 

 left the nest, for he chased the young birds down. 

 They were evidently bred in this immediate neigh- 

 bourhood, and I was much pleased at obtaining 



