1690 The Zoologist— June, 1869. 



driven from its slaughtered prey. One of the specimens which I ob- 

 tained at Cow Head was feeding on an eider duck — probably a 

 wounded bird which it had killed — and was twice knocked over with 

 stones, the last time apparently killed, before it would relinquish the 

 duck : it had, however, sufficient life and strength to force its claws 

 into the arm of the man who picked it up, although protected with all 

 the clothes he usually wore. A large Newfoundland dog, used for 

 retrieving seals, &c., refused to go near this bird after it was knocked 

 down with stones : the men who were present assured me that the 

 bird kept making a " hissing" noise, apparently at the sight of the dog. 

 During my residence in Newfoundland I heard several amusing 

 anecdotes of the snowy owl, but, although 1 can vouch for the truth of 

 them, it is scarcely necessary to reproduce them all in the pages of 

 the ' Zoologist :" I will, however, relate one or two which I do not 

 think have before appeared in print. William Youngs, of Codroy 

 (Newfoundland), having continually had the bait stolen from one of his 

 fox-traps, determined to watch the trap and shoot the robber : for this 

 purpose he selected a fine moonlight night, with snow on the ground, 

 and, with his gun in his hand, a white swan-skin frock on, and a while 

 handkerchief tied round his cap, he secreted himself in a small bush 

 about twenty yards from his trap, fully determined to shoot the first 

 comer; but his determination proved fruitless, for a large while owl 

 — probably the thief — seeing something white sticking up through the 

 centre of the bush, and evidently mistaking it for a fine plump willow 

 grouse, instantly made a " stoop," and, at the same time, SLiidiug its 

 claws almost to the man's brains, suddenly disappeared with the cap 

 and white handkerchief: the man was so startled for the moment that 

 he was unable to shoot at the bird. The snowy owl is a frequent 

 attendant — although generally unnoticed — of the sportsman, and often 

 succeeds in carrying off a grouse or duck before the retriever gels to 

 it. On one occasion some men were waiting in ice "gazes" for ihe 

 purpose of shooting wild geese {Demicla canadensis and B. brenla), 

 when one of them, named James Carter, left his " gaze" to go and 

 have a chat with his neighbour, incautiously leaving his new white 

 swan-skin cuffs and gun behind him. He had scarcely left his " gaze " 

 when an unseen enemy, in the shape of a fine snowy owl, pounced in 

 and succeeded in getting clear off again with both of the white cuffs. 

 A fine adult bird of this species entered my host's house, via the 

 chimney, and fought so valiantly for its life that "the man had to kill 

 it with a "pew" — apiece of pointed iron fastened to a wooden 



