GREAT HORNED OWL— CAT OWL. 99 



that he was glad to leave them where they fell, shewing clearly 

 that these birds had recently been in contact with that animal. I 

 have kept a pair of these Owls in confinement and tound them to 

 be untameable. They were always treacherous, and one could 

 never feel sure in offering them a tempting piece of meat whether 

 they would not prefer the ends of the finger and thumb holding 

 it. They invariably made a loud hissing noise when approached, 

 and snapped their mandibles fiercely when in any way tormented, or 

 at the sight of a dog. One showed great antipathy to a living Snowy 

 Owl in my possession, and made desperate attempts to reach him 

 through the bars of his cage. This White Owl, however, from 

 what I knew of his disposition and prowess, would have been 

 rather more than a match for any one of the other species, and 

 the conflict probably would have ended by his devouring his op- 

 ponent. 



During the winter months the Great Horned Owl is often 

 hard-jDressed by hunger, and does not hesitate to attack boldly the 

 farmer's poultry. For this, however, he generally pays the extreme 

 penalty of the law, for among our habitants there is no mercy 

 shewn to a " Cat Owl." The bird figured on Plate XX was caught 

 in a trap by a farmer near Montreal, who had been for some time , 

 missing some of his daintily-fed poultry. He was brought to me 

 alive and in splendid condition, and I spent some days studying 

 his varied attitudes before killing him. Immediately after his 

 death numerous measurements were taken, and girths of paper 

 were fastened at regular intervals around his body and subse- 

 .quently slipped off tail-wards. From these measurements and 

 girths he was stuffed and mounted, and set in one of the positions 

 he had most generally assumed when living. I consequently can 

 present this figure of the bird as true to life, and as a portrait of 

 one of the finest stuffed specimens of the Great Horned Owl to be 

 met with in any of our collections. 



This bird is so well known that space need not be occupied 

 in giving its specific characters, but I may briefly give a sketch of 

 the pale or light-colored variety, Arctiais, which is often met with 

 in Ontario, and respecting which I fully agree with Mr. Cassin in 



