332 



CITIZEN BIRD 



This beautiful white Owl, marked here and there 

 with black bars and spots, had a smooth round head like 



a snowball, great yel- 

 low eyes, and thick- 

 ly feathered feet ; 

 his bill and claws were 

 black, but you could 

 hardly see them for the 

 thickness of the feathers 

 which they were 

 muffled up. He 

 winked with each 

 eye, clicked his 

 bill once or 

 twice, and thus 

 began : 



" I'm a very 

 good - looking 

 bird, as you 

 see — fatally 

 beautiful, in 

 fact ; for 



House People 

 shoot me, not 

 on account of 

 my sins, but be- 

 cause I can be 

 stuffed and sold 

 for an ornament. I do not stay long enough in the 

 parts of the country Avliere they live, to do much harm, 

 even Avere I a wicked Owl. ^ly home is in Arctic re- 

 gions, where my feather-lined nest rests on the ground, 



Snowy Owl. 



