Mexborough and Swinton Times January 20, 1940
Owl Crosses Atlantic
But Gets Bunkered at Liverpool
Sent by Wombwell Man
A bird known as a snowy owl—one of the rarest of the species—has crossed the Atlantic. It left the Crooked River district of Canada just before Christmas and as got as far as Liverpool, where it has been put into “cold storage” and held up.
This snowy owl—or arctic owl, as the type is sometimes called is preserved and, stuffed. It has been sent to England by the Rev, Maurice Kaye, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Kaye, 70, Barnsley Road, Wombwell, and because of a bit of red tape may have to go back again.
The position is that under the Importation of Plumage Acts the landing of feathers of certain types is not permitted in this country—even though the feathers happen to be stuck into the bird that grew them. So after crossing the Atlantic and facing the perils of enemy submarines this bird is “bunkered.” They are keeping it at Liverpool until the people interested at each end decide what to do about it. It is believed that the bird is of some considerable value as a specimen.
We give the story in detail because there is a chance here of one of the South Yorkshire museums getting a rare bird at little or no expense. It appears that under only one proviso can the bird be permitted to land; the condition that it must be requisitioned and despatched to some recognised museum. You
Three days before Christmas Mr. and Mrs. Kaye received a letter from their son stating that his friend had shot an arctic owl, that the friend had made him a present of it, and that the bird was on the way to England. Next they received a communication from the Liverpool office of the Canadian National Express Railways stating that the owl had been sent from Crooked River, Saskatoon, and that because of prohibitive regulations it could not be forwarded. They obligingly informed Mr. and Mrs. Kaye that only on one condition was there a possibility of importation being permitted; a museum might get permission to accept it. Mr. and Mrs. Kaye have now written their son and await his instructions regarding the disposal of the bird.
Mr. Kaye told a “Times” reporter: “Our desire would be to give it to a Wombwell museum if Wombwell had one. We have been wondering if the Barnsley Museum or perhaps the Natural History Museum at Cawthorne would like it.”
The snowy owl is described as inhabiting Northern Europe and Northern America, attaining a length of 22 to 27 inches, and assuming a pure white colour when full grown.
The Rev. Maurice Kaye is attached to the United Church of Canada, and has been in the Dominion about ten years. In his younger days he was a member of Barnsley Road Methodist Church, Wombwell, and a local preacher.
Before entering the Ministry he received experience in church organisation in Wales. In Canada he spent three years at St. Andrew’s College, Saskatoon, and four years at Saskatoon University.
Before returning to England on leave in 1938 he spent ten years in wild and sparsely populated prairie country. His work now largely lies among half-breed Indians. In a recent letter home he wrote of a round of Sunday duty which carried him a hundred miles by car, and involved four preaching engagements and six baptisms.
Mr. Kaye is unmarried and about 35 years of age.