180 FROM BLOMIDON TO SMOKY. 



taken several excursions with me, and while 

 I walked clung to a stick carried in my hand, 

 or nestled between my arm and my body. If 

 placed in a tree he served quite well as a decoy, 

 although perhaps some species of birds did not 

 take him as seriously as they did the barred 

 owls when those intruded upon their breeding- 

 grounds. 



In June, 1891, 1 was presented with Snowdon, 

 a full-grown snowy owl, which had been captured 

 during the preceding winter. He was a danger- 

 ous-looking bird, with a temper and a trick of 

 jumping for one's fingers. I clipped one wing 

 and began by handling him roughly if he showed 

 a disposition to fight. At the end of a week 

 he learned to step upon a stick and cling to it 

 while I carried him back and forth in the cellar. 

 Taking him to the White Mountains, I gave up 

 to his use a box stall in the northeast corner of 

 my barn, and kept damp reindeer moss for him 

 to stand upon, plenty of water for him to bathe 

 in or drink, and a moderate supply of food for 

 his sustenance. Although we had some warm 

 weather, he was in perfect health throughout the 

 season, and is now in excellent condition. At 

 first I kept the barred owls away from him, fear- 

 ing that they might murder each other, but later 

 experiments showed that Snowdon had no ill 

 feeling toward the barred owls, and ignored 



