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THE SNOWY OWL. 



SURNIA NYCTEA. 



Plumage snow-white, more or less marked witli brown spots and transverse 

 bars ; beak black ; irides orange yellow ; legs and toes thickly covered with 

 long shaggy feathers. Length two feet ; breadth five feet. Eggs pure white. 



An Owl that spends its summer in the Arctic regions, 

 must, of necessity, differ in its habits from the Owls which 

 reside in climates where day is succeeded by night at 

 short intervals ; either it must keep a fast of many weeks' 

 duration, or hunt for food while the sun is above the 

 horizon. The Snowy Owl, therefore, a northern bird en- 

 dowed with an appetite as voracious as that generally 

 possessed by other birds of the same tribe, hunts during 

 the day as well as in the dark. With the exception of the 

 Eagle Owl, it is the largest species met with in Britain, and, 

 like that bird, only an occasional visitor. In the Shetland 

 Islands it is not unfrequent, where, however, it rarely 

 comes abroad till dusk, and feeds on rabbits, mice, rats, 

 and small birds, especially sandpipers. Its form is highly 

 elegant ; its flight less buoyant and more rapid than that 

 of other Owls ; and the superior boldness and activity of its 

 disposition, the uncommon size of its talons, and the vigour 

 of its limbs, secure it against danger from all feathered 

 enemies. On the approach of twilight, it quits the 

 elevated stony districts in which it conceals itself during 

 day, and frequents the cultivated fields, prowhng 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 receives their attacks with 

 indifference, and dashes through the air, despising their 

 hostiUty. In North America, it has frequently been ob- 

 served hunting during the day, as well as in the dark. It 

 passes swiftly over its hunting ground, seizes its prey by 

 instantaneously falling on it, and generally devours it on 



