THE OOLOGIST. 



57 



ed as unusual at any time during the 

 winter. But it does not seem reason- 

 able that the conditions causing the 

 owls to leave their homes in the far 

 north early in this season, would re- 

 main in force the greater part of our 

 winter. 



Granting this, why should they re- 

 turn north until our winter was over, 

 and if they stay, would not their num- 

 bers be further augmented by the la- 

 ter arrivals, making them more plen- 

 tiful during the later winter months? 



It is true, as says Mr. Posson, that 

 theory and practice do not always 

 agree but I have a theory to present 

 which I believe will partly explain 

 why Mr. Posson and perhaps many 

 other collectors have more records 

 of the taking of this bird during the 

 early months of winter. The rabbit 

 and Quail season opens during No- 

 vember and December and in conse- 

 quence many more hunters are afield 

 and each hunter is out oftener than 

 in the later months. He is not out 

 for Owls but these foolish (?) birds 

 have a habit of flying against his gun 

 with fatal results. 



After the Quail season is over and 

 the season draws near when the buy- 

 ers refuse to take rabbits, our Nim- 

 rods have enjoyed sufficient hunting 

 to last them until the water birds ar- 

 rive. At any rate, men and boys are 

 seldom seen with their guns in these 

 parts after the first of January until 

 the spring flight of Ducks and Geese 

 begins. 



It is quite possible for both Mr. 

 Posson and Mr. Fordyce to be right: 

 Mr. Fordyce, saying that 'more of 

 these birds are in the Northern states 

 during the later months of winter, and 

 Mr. Posson, in stating that many more 

 of them are taken in the months of 

 November and December. 



Would it not be interesting for each 

 holder of a skin of the Snowy Owl to 



send measurements and date of cap- 

 ture to the Oologist. 



ISAAC E. HESS, 



Philo, Ills. 



Snowy Owl— Taken at Philo, Illi- 

 nois, 40 degree parallel, March 19, 

 1906. Length, 27 in.; wing, IS in.; 

 tail, 10 in.; tip to tip, 62 in. 



ISAAC E. HESS. 

 Buckfield, Me. 



Mr. Short: — 



I saw in my March Oologist that 

 Mr. Fordyce speaks of a Snowy Owl 

 being taken in November. I took 

 four (2 males and 2 females) in No- 

 vember last. I am in the South Cen- 

 tral part of Maine. 



C. W. SHAW. 



Youngstown, O., Mar. 26, '06. 

 Ernest H. Short, Editor, 



Chili, New York. 

 In the Oologist for March, Mr. 

 Cornelius F. Posson of Indiana, claims 

 that I am wrong in my supposition 

 that November is early in the winter 

 for the Snowy Owl to be taken in 

 Ohio. He calls attention to the fact 

 that in notes made eight years 

 ago on the Birds of Western New 

 York, he stated that November was 

 the month of its most frequent occur- 

 rence. 



My observation in Ohio dates back 

 more than twenty years and during 

 that period the Snowy Owl has not 

 appeared in this locality, except at in- 

 tervals of three to five years. De- 

 cember and January have been the 

 months that it has been most fre- 

 quently seen or taken, except the one 

 that brought out this discussion, and 

 which as a matter of fact, is my first 

 record for November. That the aver- 

 age time of its appearance here will 

 average later than November may be 

 illustrated by the following records 

 for the winter of 1905-1906. which I 

 have carefully kept: November 23d, 



