_Strix arctica_, BARTRAM, Trav. in Carolina, 1792, p. 285.
_Strix nyctea_, (not of LINN.!) VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. 1807, pl.
xviii.—SWAINS. & RICH. F. B. A. II, 1831, 88.—BONAP. Ann. N. Y. Lyc.
II, 36.—WILS. Am. Orn. pl. xxxii, f. 1.—AUD. Birds Am. pl. cxxi.—IB.
Orn. Biog. II, 135.—THOMPS. Nat. Hist. Vermont, p. 64.—PEAB. Birds
Mass. III, 84. _Surnia nyctea_ (EDMONDST.), JAMES. (ed. WILS.),
Am. Orn. I, 1831, 92.—NUTT. Man. p. 116.—KAUP, Tr. Zoöl. Soc. IV,
1859, 214. _Syrnia nyctea_ (THOMPS.), JARDINE’S (ed. WILS.) Am.
Orn. II, 1832, 46. _Nyctea nivea_, (GRAY) CASS. Birds Cal. & Tex.
1854, 100.—IB. Birds N. Am. 1858, 63.—NEWTON, P. Z. S. 1861, 394
(eggs).—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 330 (Texas!).—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr.
Chicago Acad. I, II, 1869, 273 (Alaska).—COUES, Key, 1872, 205.
_Nyctea candida_, (LATH.) BONAP. List, 1838, 6.
SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Ground-color entirely snow-white, this marked
with transverse bars of clear dusky, of varying amount in different
individuals.
♂ (No. 12,059, Washington, D. C., December 4, 1858; C. Drexler). Across
the top of the head, and interspersed over the wings and scapulars,
are small transversely cordate spots of clear brownish-black, these
inclining to the form of regular transverse bars on the scapulars; there
is but one on each feather. The secondaries have mottled bars of more
dilute dusky; the primaries have spots of black at their ends; the tail
has a single series of irregular dusky spots crossing it near the end.
Abdomen, sides, and flanks with transverse crescentic bars of clear
brownish-black. Wing, 16.50; tail, 9.00; culmen, 1.00; tarsus, 1.90;
middle toe, 1.30. Wing-formula, 3, 2=4–5, 1.
♀ (No. 12,058, Washington, D. C., December 4, 1858). Head above and
nape with each feather blackish centrally, producing a conspicuously
spotted appearance. Rest of the plumage with regular, sharply defined
transverse bars of clear brownish-black; those of the upper surface
more crescentic, those on the lower tail-coverts narrower and more
distant. Tail crossed by five bands, composed of detached transverse
spots. Only the face, foreneck, middle of the breast, and feet, are
immaculate; everywhere else, excepting on the crissum, the dusky and
white are in nearly equal amount. Wing, 18.00; tail, 9.80; culmen, 1.10.
Wing-formula, 3=4, 2–1=5.
_Young_ (No. 36,434, Arctic America, August, 1863; MacFarlane). Only
partially feathered. Wings and tail as in the adult female described,
but the blackish bars rather broader. Down covering the head and body
dark brownish or sooty slate, becoming paler on the legs.
HAB. Northern portions of the Nearctic Realm. Breeding in the arctic
and subarctic regions, and migrating in winter to the verge of the
tropics. Bermuda (JARDINE); South Carolina (BARTRAM and AUDUBON); Texas
(DRESSER).
Localities: Texas, San Antonio (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 330).
The Snowy Owls of North America, though varying greatly among
themselves, seem to be considerably darker, both in the extremes and
average conditions of plumage, than European examples. Not only are the
dusky bars darker, but they are usually broader, and more extended over
the general surface.
HABITS. This is an exclusively northern species, and is chiefly confined
to the Arctic Circle and the adjacent portions of the temperate zone.
It is met with in the United States only in midwinter, and is much more
abundant in some years than in others. Individual specimens have been
occasionally noticed as far south as South Carolina, but very rarely. It
has also been observed in Kentucky, Ohio, the Bermuda Islands, and in
nearly every part of the United States.
[Illustration: _Nyctea scandiaca._]
In the Arctic regions of North America and in Greenland it is quite
abundant, and has been observed as far to the north as Arctic voyagers
have yet reached. Professor Reinhardt states that it is much more
numerous in the northern than in the southern part of Greenland. Sir
John Richardson, who, during seven years’ residence in the Arctic
regions, enjoyed unusual opportunities for studying the habits of this
Owl, says that it hunts its prey in the daytime. It is generally found
on the Barren Grounds, but is always so wary as to be approached with
difficulty. In the wooded districts it is less cautious.
Mr. Downes states that this Owl is very abundant in Nova Scotia in
winter, and that it is known to breed in the neighboring province of
Newfoundland. In some years it appears to traverse the country in large
flocks. In the winter of 1861–62, he adds, these birds made their
appearance in Canada in large numbers.
Mr. Boardman states that they are present in winter in the vicinity of
Calais, but that they are not common. A pair was noticed in the spring
of 1862 as late as the last of May, and, in Mr. Boardman’s opinion,
were breeding in that neighborhood. In the western part of Maine Mr.
Verrill found it also rather rare, and met with it only in winter. He
states that it differs greatly in disposition from the Great Horned
Owl, being naturally very gentle, and becoming very readily quite tame
in confinement, differing very much in this respect from most large
_Raptores_.
It makes its appearance in Massachusetts about the middle or last of
November, and in some seasons is quite common, though never present
in very large numbers. It is bold, but rather wary; coming into
thick groves of trees in close proximity to cities, which indeed it
frequently enters, but keeping a sharp lookout, and never suffering a
near approach. It hunts by daylight, and appears to distinguish objects
without difficulty. Its flight is noiseless, graceful, easy, and at
times quite rapid. In some seasons it appears to wander over the whole
of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, Dr. Heermann having
obtained a specimen of it near San Antonio, Texas, in the winter of
1857.
It is more abundant, in winter, near the coast, than in the interior,
and in the latter keeps in the neighborhood of rivers and streams,
watching by the open places for opportunities to catch fish. Mr. Audubon
describes it as very expert and cunning in fishing, crouching on the
edges of air-holes in the ice, and instantly seizing any fish that
may come to the surface. It also feeds on hares, squirrels, rats, and
other small animals. It watches the traps set for animals, especially
muskrats, and devours them when caught. In the stomach of one Mr.
Audubon found the whole of a large house-rat. Its own flesh, Mr. Audubon
affirms, is fine and delicate, and furnishes very good eating. It is
described as a very silent bird, and Mr. Audubon has never known it to
utter a note or to make any sound.
Richardson states that a few remain in the Arctic regions even in
midwinter, but usually in the more sheltered districts, whither it has
followed the Ptarmigan, on which it feeds. When seen on the Barren
Grounds, it was generally squatting on the earth, and, if disturbed,
alighted again after a short flight. In the more wooded districts it is
said to be bolder, and is even known to watch the Grouse-shooters, and
to share in their spoils, skimming from its perch on a high tree, and
carrying off the bird before the sportsman can get near it.
Mr. MacFarlane writes from Fort Anderson that he did not find this
species abundant in that quarter, and that its eggs were unknown to him.
Mr. B. R. Ross speaks of this Owl as widely distributed, but not common.
He found it a winter resident, and has repeatedly seen it at that season
near Fort Resolution, and it has been shot in February at Fort Norman.
It is very destructive to the snares set by the Indians, eating the
hares and breaking the snares, in which they are sometimes caught. The
Indians are said to attract these birds near enough to be shot at, by
tying a mouse or a piece of hare’s skin to a line, and letting it drag
behind them.
Mr. Donald Gunn writes that the Snowy Owl is merely a visitor in the
districts to the west of Lake Winnepeg, but is a constant inhabitant
of the country surrounding Hudson Bay. There they hatch their young,
from three to five in number, making their nests in the forks of some
tall poplar-tree. They lay their eggs very early in the spring, and have
hatched their young before other birds begin to nest. This account of
their breeding differs from all other statements I have seen, and, if
correct, is probably exceptional.
Although a bird of great vigilance, seldom permitting the hunter to
get within range of shot, and equally careful in keeping at a distance
from its foe in its flight, it is, Mr. Gunn states, readily deceived
and decoyed within easy range by tying a bundle of dark rags to a piece
of stout twine, and letting this drag from the end of the hunter’s
snow-shoe. The hungry Owl pounces upon the bait, and the hunter turns
and shoots it. These birds are sometimes quite fat, and are much prized
for food by the Indians. At times they migrate from the more northern
regions to the more inland districts. An instance of this took place
in the winter of 1855–56. These birds made their appearance about the
Red River Settlement in October, and before the latter end of December
became very numerous, especially on the plains, where they were to be
seen flying at any time of the day. In March all left that vicinity and
disappeared. A few pass the summer near Lake Winnepeg, as occasional
birds are seen there in the spring and fall. These migrations are
supposed to be caused by unusual snow-falls and the scarcity of the
animals on which they feed.
Mr. Dall found them rather rare in the valley of the Lower Yukon, and he
has noticed them occasionally flying over the ice in the winter season.
Mr. Hutchins, in his manuscript observations on the birds of Hudson Bay
Territory, speaking of this Owl as the _Wapacuthu_, states that it makes
its nest in the moss on the dry ground, and lays from five to ten eggs
in May. Professor Alfred Newton (Proc. Zoöl. Soc. 1861, p. 395) thinks
there can be no doubt he refers to this Owl. Richardson states, as the
result of his own inquiries, that it breeds on the ground, which the
observations of Mr. Hearne confirm. Professor Lilljeborg (Naumannia,
1854, p. 78) found, June 3, 1843, on the Dovrefjeld, a nest of this
species which contained seven eggs. It was placed on a little shelf, on
the top of a bare mountain, far from the forest, and easy of access.
Professor Nilsson was informed, on good authority, that in East Fiarmark
the Snowy Owl is said by the Lapps to lay from eight to ten eggs in a
little depression of the bare ground on the high mountains. Mr. John
Wolley received similar information, and was told that the old birds
sometimes attack persons that approach their nests. The 16th to the
24th of May is said to be the time when they usually breed. I received
in 1860 an egg of this Owl from Herr Möschler. It had been taken near
Okkak, a missionary station of the Moravians, in Labrador, and collected
by the Esquimaux. The accounts given by these collectors confirm the
statement that this bird always breeds on the ground in open places, and
frequently lays quite a large number of eggs. This specimen measures
2.50 inches in length and 1.88 in breadth. It is oblong-oval in shape,
equally rounded at either end, and of a dull soiled white. The egg is
much discolored, apparently by its contact with the ground.
Mr. H. S. Hawkins (Ibis, 1870, p. 298) gives an account of the nest
and eggs of this species, derived from a correspondent at one of the
Moravian missionary stations on the coast of Labrador. The nest is said
to consist of only a few feathers, and to be placed generally on a ledge
of rocks where there is a slight hollow, sufficient to prevent the eggs
from rolling out, but sometimes on the ground. The usual number of eggs
is eight; these are not all laid and brooded at one time, but the first
two are often hatched by the time the last is laid, so that you may find
in one nest young birds, fresh eggs, and others more or less incubated.
Herr von Heuglin, in his Notes on the birds of Novaja Zemlia (Ibis,
1872, p. 61), mentions meeting with this Owl in Seal’s Bay, on Matthew’s
Strait, in the Sea of Kara, where he found three nests with two young
birds covered with down. The nest was formed of a shallow depression
in the turf, without any lining. The food of the Snowy Owl, in Novaja
Zemlia, during the summer time, consisted exclusively of a species of
_Myodes_, which were very numerous. The down of the young is plain
brownish-gray. They were easily tamed, and their comical gestures and
vivacity are said to have been very amusing.
Captain C. F. Hall, the celebrated Arctic voyager, during one of his
expeditions found a nest and four eggs of this species on the bare
ground. These were packed up in an old moccasin, and sent, without
emptying, to the Smithsonian Institution, where, after an interval of
several months, they were successfully emptied, and are now among the
choice treasures of the national museum.