SNOWY DAY-OWL. 411 



ties of their surface afford it shelter from the rays of the sun ; 

 but on the approach of twilight, it may be seen perching on the 

 exposed eminences. It then quits its haunts, and frequents the 

 cultivated fields, prowling over the low grounds in quest of 

 mice and small birds. When first observed to leave its retreat, 

 it is frequently assailed by crows and other birds ; but it re- 

 ceives their attacks rather as an amusement than an annoy- 

 ance, and dashes through the air despising their hostility. 

 It preys chiefly on sandpipers, on which it pounces with pre- 

 cision and agility as it skims along the marshes. The speci- 

 men given to Mr Bullock's museum had an entire one in its 

 stomach when I shot it ; and a mouse perfectly whole was 

 taken from that of the present specimen. I may here remark, 

 that the stomach appears to be peculiarly small, and less mem- 

 branous than what occurs in other carnivorous birds, and the 

 food seems to be swallowed entire ; indeed, its bill being fea- 

 thered to its point, renders this almost necessary." 



With regard to the stomach I must here offer a few remarks. 

 I have carefully examined the digestive organs of several indi- 

 viduals, and have described and figured those of one in my 

 First Volume, p. 62, PI. V. In it the stomach was not small, 

 nor more muscular than that of the Eagle-Owl ; but its inner 

 coat or epithelium was thick and very rugous ; which I think 

 often happens in birds kept in confinement, as was the case with 

 this. Another individual was preserved in spirits. My de- 

 scription of its digestive organs, in the fifth volume of Mr Au- 

 dubon's Ornithological Biography, contains the following pas- 

 sage relative to the part in question. " The stomach is large, 

 roundish, two inches two-twelfths in length, two inches one- 

 twelfth in breadth, its muscular coat very thin, being com- 

 posed of a single series of fasciculi; the inner coat thick, 

 moderately tough, and rugous." Again, the feathers about the 

 bill do not render it necessary that its prey should be swallowed 

 entire ; and observations made in America on wild birds, and 

 at Dr NeilPs on a captive, shew that the Snowy Owl can tear 

 its prey into morsels as readily as an Eagle or a Hawk. These 

 circumstances I mention because ornithology requires to bo 

 purified of erroneous facts and inferences. 



