122 THE ZOOLOGIS'r. 
May till the end of July and the beginning of August, when, 
having reared their young, the majority went southwards. I am 
inclined to believe some remain in the vicinity of Discovery Bay 
throughout the winter. Their food is almost exclusively the 
Lemming, which is always to be had in abundance, and the 
following extracts from my journal will show that owls can exist 
in these latitudes, independently of the extreme changes in light 
and temperature :— 
* October 22, 1875. Hans, our Esquimaux hunter, saw an 
owl kill a hare, and had nearly devoured it, flying off, when he 
disturbed it. The temperature was then ~ 29° Fahrenheit, and the 
sun had been below the horizon at midday for a week. This was 
nearly three months after their regular migration had taken 
place.” 
“February 29, 1876. I found a freshly-discharged pellet 
upon the snow, with some blood and a portion of a Lemming’s 
entrails close by; in a day or two these would have been covered 
by the light drifting snow. The temperature was —59° Fahr. The 
pellet was entirely composed of Lemmings’ bones and fur. 
“March 2, 1876. An owl was seen by Hans. The mean 
temperature of the day was —63°4°Fahr. This was the coldest 
week we experienced.” 
Snowy Owls were noticed in pairs from the 18th May onwards. 
The first nest was found on June 15th, and contained nine hard- 
set eggs. Upon this occasion, and a few others, there was a 
pretence for a nest of hay and some of the owl’s feathers; as 
a rule, the eggs were laid upon the bare earth, often with a 
surrounding of snow. As early as the 17th June I saw a young 
one able to fly, its plumage being of a dark greyish black. Within 
fifteen miles of the ship there were found no less than twenty-six 
nests of the Snowy Owl, and as many as four within an area of 
one square mile; of these I observed six to contain nine eggs 
each; eight had eight eggs each; while the rest were not dis- 
covered till some young had flown; nine was, however, the 
maximum number of eggs observed. It is usual, when the season 
has advanced, to find young of different ages and eggs in the same 
nest, a week or more elapsing from the time of laying the first 
egg till the full number has been completed ; no doubt the parent 
cannot leave its eggs unprotected in consequence of the extreme 
cold. The eggs are almost spherical and of a snowy whiteness ; 
