102 
STRIGIM. 
have been invariably captured within a very short time. In the 
few instances in which I have seen dead prey seized, the 
four claws were used.* 
The preceding account of Mr. Langtry^s birds was published 
in the Annals of Natural History for June, 1838. Two of them 
were soon after that period sent to the Zoological Garden, in the 
Phoenix Park, Dublin. Respecting the one which survived the 
longest, I made the following notes on the 6th of Sept., 1845: — 
“This bird, now more than eight years old, appears in the highest 
state of health, and from the exceeding richness of its soft downy 
plumage, is extremely beautiful. It is much whiter than any of 
the individuals represented in the works at hand for reference, 
namely, those of Bewick, Wilson, t Selby, Bennett, { Yarrell, and 
Jardine.|| At a front view, — the bird looking towards me,— it is 
purely white without a single spot ; viewed dorsally, the upper 
half of its plumage is also white, but on the coverts about the 
middle of the wing, two or three blackish-brown spots appear. 
The only other markings of this colour are a very few spots dis- 
posed at random on the lowest portion of the wing-coverts, and a 
few bands towards the tips of two of the secondaries. The bird 
is wholly white excepting the wings, to which the dark markings 
are confined, and these are different on each wing.” This bird 
died in the middle of October, 1846, and a post-mortem exami- 
nation of its body took place. Outwardly all looked fair, but 
within “not a muscle, vessel, or portion of viscera but was 
diseased.” (Ball.) 
Migration of the Snowy Owl . 
The following notes were published in the Annals of Natural 
History for April, 1839: — 
I have the pleasure on this occasion of recording a novel and 
interesting fact in the history of that beautiful bird, the snowy 
owl. By the ship John and Robert, (Captain MTCechnie), of 501 
tons burthen, belonging to the port of Belfast, that arrived here 
from Quebec early in the month of December, 1838, three speci- 
* See observation to the contrary in the last-cited work, p. BIO. 
f Amer. Ornith. | Gard. and Menag. Zool. Soe. j| Hist. Brit. Birds. 
