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borrowed it from the person who skinned and stuffed the specimen, for the purpose of sending it 

 to me for exhibition at a meeting of this Society. The owner afterwards called and took the 

 bird away in the absence of the individual referred to ; and the boy in charge of the place forgot 

 to inquire the name and address. Mr. Boyd, however, has still some hope of being able to find 

 him out. He tells me that another specimen of the Hawk Owl was taken in the flesh to the 

 same shop a few months ago, and that he saw and examined it. It was in very poor condition ; 

 and as it had been left by a sailor, it was concluded that he had caught it on board some ship." 

 It will be seen, therefore, that, owing to the kindness of our friends, we have been able to 

 establish the claims of the American Hawk Owl to a place in the British list ; and if the Shetland 

 bird should prove to be the European Surnia ulula, the most westerly range of the one and the 

 most easterly range of the other will be found to occur in Great Britain. 



The present species is found over the greater part of North America, and is apparently by no 

 means rare ; for it is to be seen in most collections from Canada and Labrador. Messrs. Swainson 

 and Richardson, in the ' Fauna Boreali-Americana,' give the following account of the species : — 

 " It remains all the winter in high northern latitudes, and is rarely seen so far south as Penn- 

 sylvania, and then only in severe winters. Wilson saw only two specimens in the United States. 

 It is a common species throughout the fur-countries, from Hudson's Bay to the Pacific, and is 

 more frequently killed than any other by the hunters, which may be partly attributed to its 

 boldness and its habit of flying about by day. In the summer season it feeds principally on mice 

 and insects ; but in the snow-clad regions, which it frequents in the winter, neither of these are 

 to be procured, and it then preys mostly on Ptarmigan. It is a constant attendant on the flocks 

 of Ptarmigan in their spring migrations to the northward. It builds its nest on a tree, of sticks, 

 and grass, and feathers, and lays two white eggs. When the hunters are shooting Grouse this 

 bird is occasionally attracted by the report of the gun, and is often bold enough, on a bird being 

 killed, to pounce down upon it, though it may be unable from its size to carry it off. It is also 

 known to hover round the fires made by the natives at night." Captain Blakiston also, when 

 collecting in North America, procured this species at the Forks of the Saskatchewan on the 7th 

 of November, 1857, and again on the 29th of January, 1858." In a later paper he writes con- 

 cerning it : — " The Hawk Owl is the most common Owl of the interior, up to the Arctic coast ; 

 it is resident all the winter through on the Saskatchewan, and extends thence to Hudson's Bay. 

 I have not heard that it has been met with by any ornithologist to the west of the Rocky 

 Mountains." 



For the following interesting letter on the distribution of the American Hawk Owl we are 

 indebted to our kind friend and illustrious fellow-labourer, Dr. Elliott Coues, whose contributions 

 to the present work will be welcomed not by ourselves alone but by every other ornithologist : — 



" My Dear Sirs, — That I have not sooner complied with your request, is not from any indisposition to 

 contribute, be it never so little, to your great work, the progress of which I watch with lively interest, and in 

 confident anticipation of its successful completion. It is said that one who cannot ' find time/ must ' make 

 time ; ' and this I do in the hope that what I have now the pleasure of placing at your service respecting the 

 distribution of the Hawk Owl in America may reach you in due season. I have never seen the bird alive, and 

 therefore can say nothing of its habits from personal observation ; but I am satisfied that the statements which 

 follow are authentic and reliable. 



