A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Science
A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3
Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Birds -- North America
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.
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