190S.] 



BIRDS. 



375 



5 millimeters in width, nearly equaling in extent the white spaces. 

 In the lightest males the same markings measure only about 2 milli- 

 meters in width. 



On January 1, 1904, I noted six individuals- in sight at one time, 

 but during the remainder of the month seldom observed the species 

 at Fort Simpson. Xone were observed during a three days' snowshoe 

 trip down the Mackenzie about the middle of January. Mr. Thomas 

 Anderson, however, while on his way to Fort Liard early in the 

 month, observed a number on Lake Brochet, 20 miles southwest of 

 Fort Simpson. They were feeding upon the varying hares {Lejpus 

 americanus) that ventured from the shelter of the woods. On his 

 return late in January he noted several at the same place. During 

 February I occasionally observed the birds and took the last one on 

 February 29. The stomachs of those collected almost invariably 

 contained the remains of varying hares, and I often saw signs on the 

 snow where owls had pursued and captured these animals. The only 

 sound I heard the birds utter was a tremulous scre^£m, sometimes 

 emitted when they were perching, but usually when on the wing. 

 At Fort Xorman the species was reported by Mr. C. Harding to have 

 been common during the winter, but at Fort Good Hope I was in- 

 formed that it is rarely seen. 



In a letter received from H. W. Jones he informs me that snowy 

 owls Avere numerous at Fort Simpson during the autumn of 1904, 

 but were not noticed after the last of December. 



The snowy owl was first reported from the islands of the Polar Sea 

 Ijy Edward Sabine, who states, referring particularly to Melville 

 Island, that several pairs were seen during the summer months, and 

 that a large white bird seen by a sailor in February was probably 

 of this species." Swainson and Richardson describe a specimen 

 killed at Great Bear Lake in May, 1826.^ King records one shot 

 near McLeod Bay, Great Slave Lake, September 11, 1833.^ During 

 the voyage of the Inrestigator Armstrong noted the first one near 

 Princess Royal Islands, Prince of Wales Strait, about May 10, 1851 ; ^ 

 he saw the species at Prince Alfred Cape, Banks Land, September 

 13, 1851;^ and again at Mercy Bay, Banks Land, March. 1, 1852/ 

 J. C. Ross recorded the snowy owl from Port Bowen, where it was 

 rare.fi' He later recorded it from Victoria Harbor, where it bred, and 



« Suppl. to Appendix Parry's First Voyage, pp. cxciii, cxciv, 1824. 



^ Fauna Boreal i-Americana, II, p. 89, 1831. 



^ Narrative Journey to Arctic Ocean, I, p. 125, 1836. 



^Narrative Discovery Northwest Passage, p. 321, 1857. 



e Ibid., p. 434, 1857. 



^Ibid., p. 504, 1857. 



^Parry's Third Voyage, Appendix, p. 97, 1826. 



