374 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[NO. 



In the summer of 1895 J. Alden Loring reported the species quite 

 common in the country west of Edmonton. In 1896 he heard several 

 along the route between Edmonton and Jasper House, and reported 

 it not rare along the trail between Jasper House and Smoky River, 

 and more frequently noted in the foothills than in the high moun- 

 tains. The bird of western Alberta may not be typical suharcticus, 

 but it seems best to include these notes under this heading, since a 

 summer specimen from Edmonton is nearly typical of the present 

 form. 



Bubo virginianus saturatus Eidgwa}^ Dusky Horned Owl. 



Four specimens, all females, taken at Fort Simpson, November 25 

 to December 10, 1903, are doubtfull}^ referred to this race. They un- 

 doubtedly were migrants, very probably from the region of the upper 

 Liarcl. The contrast in color between these specimens and the lighter 

 specimens of B. v. suhoj^cticiis, taken at the same time, is very notice- 

 able. The stomach of one taken November 28 contained remains of a 

 varying hare (Lepus amei'icanus) ^ and voles {Microtus drummondi) ; 

 another taken November 30 had eaten portions of a hare. 



Nyctea nyctea (Linn.). Snowy Owl. 



This circumpolar species ranges throughout the region now under 

 review. Its summer home is mainly north of the tree limit. It be- 

 gins to move southward about the time of the first heavy snows, and 

 usually is common over the southern portion of the region during the 

 winter, when it preys chiefly on varjdng hares. 



In the autumn of 1903, while ascending the Mackenzie, I saw the 

 first snowy owl at the mouth of Blackwater River October 7, and 

 observed one or two nearly every day until I reached Fort Simpson, 

 October 20. The birds were usually observed at the mouth of 

 streams, where the broad gravel bars, dotted with the trunks and 

 stumps of drift logs, seemed to attract them. At Fort Simpson I 

 found the species common during the latter part of November, and 

 (^specially so in December, when most of my specimens were taken. 

 I secured them by means of steel traps, set on the upturned roots 

 of drift logs which had become grounded on the batture near the 

 post. This place was a favorite resort of snowy owls, and to a less 

 extent of great horned owls, and any perch above the general level 

 w^as sure to be utilized, this habit making their capture easy. T\Tiile 

 the great horned owls when caught were invariably found perched 

 upright on the stump, the snowy owls were always hanging head 

 downward. In my series of eighteen specimens the difference in col- 

 oration is found to be sexual, the dark barring in only one male equal- 

 ing in extent the same markings of the lightest female. The dark 

 bars on the sides of the breast in the darkest females measure over 



