390 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



situated on the summit of an eminence which rose from the center of the 

 valley." In this case a few feathers and a little grass were present. The 

 nest found by Major Feilden in Grinnell Land was obtained June 20, 1876, 

 in latitude 82° 40', probably the most northerly point this species has been 

 found nesting." 1 



On the Pacific coast it is a resident, and breeds throughout northern 

 Alaska, both in the interior and near the seacoast, and has there been met 

 with by Dall, Turner, Nelson, Murdoch, and others. 



Mr. R. MacFarlane states that the Snowy Owl is not numerous in the 

 Anderson River country, and though every effort was made to secure its 

 eggs and nest, the search was unsuccessful. He says: "On one occasion we 

 noticed a White Owl hunting marmots (Arctomys empetra), in the barren 

 grounds; and there can be no doubt that this and other Owls sometimes 

 rob Ptarmigan and Ducks of their eggs." 



While a few Snowy Owls remain throughout the year, braving the severe 

 Arctic winters, even in high latitudes, by far the greater number of these birds 

 perform annually extended migrations southward. Some winters they appear 

 in considerable numbers in the northern parts of the United States, and a few 

 even straggle into the Southern States. On the Pacific coast they do not 

 come nearly as far south, and are rarely seen in the more open portions ot 

 Washington and Oregon, and I believe my records are the first from those 

 regions. I observed it on three occasions in the vicinity of Camp Harney, 

 Oregon, in January, 1875, and December, 1876, and at Fort Walla Walla, 

 Washington, one each on December 1, 1880, and November 10, 1881. I 

 did not succeed in getting any of these birds at Harney, as they were exces- 

 sively shy and wide awake, but the two last mentioned were secured. One 

 of these is now in the collection of Mr. William Brewster, Cambridge, Massa- 

 chusetts. 



The home of the Snowy Owl is on the immense moss and lichen covered 

 tundras of the boreal regions, where it leads an easy existence and finds an 

 abundant supply of food during the short Arctic summers. It hunts its prey 

 at all hours and subsists principally on the lemming, and is said to be always 

 abundant wherever these mammals are found in any numbers. Small rodents 

 are also caught, as well as Ptarmigan, Ducks, and other waterfowl, and even 

 the Arctic hare, an animal fully as heavy again as these Owls, is said to be 

 successfully attacked and killed by them. 



Mr. L. M. Turner, in his "Notes on the Birds of Labrador and Ungava," 

 says: "This bird never seizes its prey except while the latter is in motion, 

 except in the case probably of fish, for it is said to be an expert fisher, seek- 

 ing the places overgrown with seaweed to seize any sculpin (Cottus) that 

 may be lurking among the crevices of the rocks. The hares are chased and 

 seized near the lumbar region and held by the bird, which spreads its wings 

 and partly lifts the animal from the ground, thus depriving it of the power 



1 Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, Vol. II, 1888, pp. 26, 27. 



