THE SNOWY OWL. 69 



they are encased. * * h^ jj^^ ^y^ being thus fixed, 

 these birds, as they view different objects, are always 

 obliged to turn the head; and nature has so excellently 

 adapted their neck to this purpose that they can, with ease, 

 turn it round, without moving the body, in almost a com- 

 plete circle."* 



The Snowy Owl is a bird of the Arctic regions. Common 

 in the extreme north of both continents, it is ever at home 

 amidst ice and snow; migrating southward in winter, 

 regularly into the New England and the Middle States, and 

 casually even to the extreme Southern States, breeding, ac- 

 cording to the best authorities, as far south as the Canadas, 

 and probably even in the north of Maine. I am not sure 

 but it may rarely breed here; for, as late as the 7th of May, 

 1877, two were seen in the vicinity of Lockport, N. Y., one 

 of which was shot and brought to me — a fine old male. 

 The nest is said to be on the ground, in which are laid 

 *' three or four white eggs, measuring about 2/^ inches in 

 length by 2 in breadth." Mr. Fortiscue says that at York 

 Factory, Hudson's Bay, it goes north in summer. 



According to Wilson, "the usual food of this species 

 is said to be hares, grouse, rabbits, ducks, mice, and 

 even carrion. Unlike most of its tribe, it hunts by day as 

 well as by twilight, and is particularly fond of frequenting 

 the shores and banks of shallow rivers, over the surface of 

 which it slowly sails, or sits on a rock a little raised above 

 the water, watching the fish. These it seizes with a sudden 

 and instantaneous stroke of the foot, seldom missing its aim." 



In my parish it has been known to attack the hens in 

 the barn-yard in broad daylight. 



This bird cannot be mistaken; nearly or about two feet 

 long, white, with more or less scattered and lunated spots of 



* This, however, is a characteristic structure of the eye of birds generally. 



