472 



SNOWY OWL 



Anim. p. 58 — Strix alba Freti Hudsonis, Briss. 1. p. 522 — La Chouette Har- 



fang, Buff. Ois. 1. p. 387 lb. pi. Enl. 458 Temm. Man. d'Orn. L p. 82. 



— Veil. Ois. d'Amer. Sept. i. pi. 18. -Chouette blanche, Vaill. Ois. d'Afr. V. 

 pi. 45. old bird — Schnee-Kauz, Bechst. Naturg. Dent. 2. p. 925. — Schnewuil, 

 Meyer, Vog. Liv. und Esthl. p. 29.. — Snowy Owl, Arct. Zool. 2. No. 121 — 



Lath. Syn. 1. p. 132. 17 lb. Supp. p. 45 Mont. Supp. to Orn. Diet Be- 



wick's Supp. Br. Birds. — Wernerian Trans. 4 Selby, pi. 23. p. 88. 



Mr. Bullock received a specimen from Norwich, with an assurance 

 of its having been killed in that neighbourhood. But this naturalist, 

 by a perseverance in the pursuit of natural objects, has been fortunate 

 enough to discover that the Snowy Owl actually breeds in the more 

 northern part of these realms. 



In a tour to the Orkney and Shetland islands, Mr. Bullock was 

 informed, on his landing at North Ronaldshaw, that a large white bird, 

 with a head like that of a cat, had been seen on the island for upwards 

 of a month ; and, in consequence of a gentleman of the island assuring 

 him that he had seen the bird (which he described to be as large as a 

 goose) the evening before, he determined to lose no time in pursuit. 

 The place where this owl was always seen is a rabbit-warren, called 

 the Links ; to that place, therefore, Mr. Bullock, in company with two 

 other persons, bent his course, and found the bird exactly in the place 

 where it had been so often seen. It was on the ground contiguous to the 

 shore, and, doubtless, frequented the warren for the sake of making a 

 prey of the rabbits. The bird suffered Mr. Bullock to approach within 

 forty yards, and by means of a glass he minutely examined it, and dis- 

 covered that it was a male by its being of an immaculate white. When 

 it rose it was fired at, but unfortunately was not stopped, and it flew 

 about a mile. A reward being offered, all the guns in the island were 

 put in instant requisition, and the consequence was, that by being re- 

 peatedly shot at by bad marksmen, the bird flew at last from the island, 

 in the direction of the Isle of Sanda. It appears that the female owl 

 had been shot on the island a few weeks before, and plucked for the 

 sake of the feathers ; this was mottled with brown. 



Upon visiting the Isle of Westra, a few days after, Mr. Bullock was 

 informed that a similar bird had been seen there a few days before on a 

 rabbit-warren. In Shetland, Mr. Bullock was more successful, for in 

 Unst, the most northerly of the islands, he not only procured a speci- 

 men of the Snowy Owl, but found that it bred as well there as on the 

 neighbouring isle of Yell. From the observations of this gentleman, 

 it appears that this species of owl preys in mid-day, as well perhaps as 

 in the morning dawn, or dusk of the evening. This circumstance is 

 not singular, since some of the other species do the same. It does not 

 conceal itself like most of the genus, but prefers resting upon the 



