ILLINOIS AUDUBON SOCIETY 



23 



Photo by G. A. Eldredge 



1 believe he determined 



it a hawk because of the 



fact that it was hunting 



in the day time. To me 



this suggests the pres- 

 ence of the Snowy Owl 



in the East, as this owl 



hunts throughout the 



day as do the hawks. 



The article mentioned 



the great size of the bird. 



This together with the 



known enmity of the 



crow for all owls leads 



me to believe it a Snowy 



( )wl rather than a hawk. 



This is not an authentic 



record, but suggests a 



wide distribution of the 



visitor, if such it chanced 



to be. 



What I wish to say 



of the local habits of the 



migrant, has been ob- 

 tained from hunters and 



farmers who have seen 



it hunting, and have 



killed specimens, thus making authentic the identification of the bird. 

 Mr. J. P. Behrensmeyer reports killing two in 1905. Both were 

 found near water in the Mississippi bottom lands above Quincy. One 

 was flushed from the grass and slashes where it had alighted, evidently 

 to eat its prey or to watch for game. The other was perched on a small 

 stump w r here he could observe the surrounding ground while waiting 

 for unsuspecting mice or rabbits. Both were hunting in the day time. 



Another hunter reports flushing a Snoww Owl which he did not 

 shoot. It rose from a willow stump at the edge of an ice covered pond. 

 This was in early February 1906. Its flight was very rapid, steady and 

 quiet. He commented particularly on the speed with which it travelled. 

 It resembled the snowy surroundings so much that he did not notice the 

 bird until it rose in flight. 



Nuttall in his Ornithology of Eastern North America says, that 

 this owl inhabits both continents being common in Ireland, Greenland 

 and Hudson Bay, where its white plumage makes it almost indiscerna- 

 ble in the white surroundings. It is known to eat fish and carrion as 

 well as grouse and rabbits. 



Wheelright in his Spring and Summer in Lapland says, that it lives 

 and nests within the arctic circle. The eggs (four in number) are white, 

 2]/x inches in length and 134 inches in breadth and are deposited in 

 nests made of reindeer moss. 



Little more is known of its nesting habits. Its eggs are collected 

 and are considered very delicate by the native Laplanders. Authors 



