370 



OWL. 



third and fourth wing-quill the longest ; span of the 

 foot four inclips." 



Such is Wilson's description of the appearance of 

 the birds ; but he adds an account of the eye, which 

 is so circumstantial, and so eminently characteristic 

 of the eyes of nocturnal birds, that we shall quote it 

 in his own words : " From the various individuals of 

 these birds which I have examined, I have reason 

 to believe that the male alone approaches nearly to 

 white in the plumage, the female rarely, or never. 

 The conformation of the eye of this bird forms a 

 curious and interesting subject to the young ana- 

 tomist. The globe of the eye is immoveably fixed in 

 its socket by a strong elastic hard cartilaginous case, 

 in form of a truncated cone ; this case, being closely 

 covered with a skin, appears at first to be of one 

 continued piece ; but, on removing the exterior 

 membrane, it is found to be formed of fifteen 1 pieces, 

 placed like the staves of a cask, overlapping a little 

 at the base, or narrow end, and seems as if capable 

 of being enlarged or contracted, perhaps by the mus- 

 cular membrane with which they are encased. In 

 five other different species of owls, which I have 

 examined, 1 found nearly the same conformation of 

 the organ, and exactly the same number of staves. 

 The eye being thus fixed, these birds, as they view 

 different objects, are always obliged to turn the head ; 

 and nature has so exactly adapted their neck to this 

 purpose, that they can, with ease, turn it round, 

 without moving the body, in almost a complete 

 circle." 



A bird so furnished, by nature, in the warmth of 

 its plumage, the power of its weapons of prehension, 

 and its capacity of enduring such extremes of cold, is 

 one of the best objects of study ; and it is impossible 

 to form any correct idea of the character of this owl 

 without a reference to the countries which it inhabits. 

 In Europe it does not, as we have said, come far to 

 the southward even in the severest weather. In 

 America it ranges more extensively, finding its way 

 not only to Canada, but into the middle states of 

 America, and even sometimes much farther to the 

 southward. The "reason of this is the different cha- 

 racter of winter in the two continents ; for, in Ame- 

 rica, what would be considered as severe enough for 

 a polar winter, is met with as low down as the 

 United States. This bird is, therefore, strictly speak- 

 ing, a polar bird ; and it takes the lead among those 

 owls which make the nearest approach to diurnal 

 birds of prey, and which, for that reason, are some- 

 times called falcon owls. There are several others 

 much smaller and feebler than this one, and they 

 extend into the very warmest latitudes, the ones 

 which haunt the low grounds there having the tarsi 

 altogether, or nearly, bare of feathers. 



Owls of this description are birds of the wilds, and 

 of rocky places, rather than of woods ; they are 

 swifter fliers, and more diurnal and given to hawking 

 on the wing than the other owls. One can easily see 

 why this can be the reason with this northern species. 

 During a considerable part of the year there is per- 

 petual sun on its pasture, and for a still greater part 

 there is light the whole night over. The summer 

 action of nature is extremely vigorous there ; vegeta- 

 tion sprouts, blossoms are expanded, and berries are 

 ripened, as if it were by magic, while both the air 

 and the waters swarm with insects and other small 

 living productions of the season. These support the 

 summer birds, which resort in vast numbers to the 



north ; and this owl, in concert with the eagles and 

 the more powerful hawks, is a regulator of the num- 

 bers of those birds. It must not be understood, how- 

 ever, that the long summer in those high latitudes is 

 a season of atmospheric tranquillity. The places we 

 allude to are, generally speaking, near the sea ; they 

 are almost, without exception, hilly and rocky ; and 

 in the heat of the season the currents keep the 

 masses of ice in continual motion from place to 

 place : there is, therefore, a great deal of evapora- 

 tion, and condensation of humidity, alternating with 

 each other, the result of which is dense fogs, which 

 often come on very suddenly, and so close, that 

 they put an end to the labours of diurnal birds of 

 prey. At other seasons of the year the snow-storms 

 are equally violent, and accompanied by winds which 

 blow with the greatest fury, and attended with such 

 thickness of drifting snow clouds, as to be proof 

 against the eyes even of eagles, proverbial as they 

 are for the keenness of their vision. 



The autumn, and partially, also, what may be 

 termed the spring, are the seasons of those storms, 

 while the fogs are more frequent during the sum- 

 mer. Both kinds of weather are, however, well 

 adapted to the habits of the snowy owl.'w hich, clothed, 

 armed, and protected as it is, pursues its course, and 

 carries on its avocation, let the fog thicken and the 

 snow drive as they may. 



In the season of the fogs, and also in that of the 

 autumnal storms, the snowy owl flies low, and feeds 

 chiefly upon grouse, ptarmigan, and other ground 

 birds, which it captures in great numbers, and gets 

 exceedingly fat. It is so voracious, that it seizes 

 prey indiscriminately on the land and the margin of 

 the waters. Upon the moors its chief prey is the 

 birds that we have noticed ; on the sandy islands it 

 consists of rabbits ; and when it is absolutely frozen 

 out from the land by heavy falls of snow, it repairs to 

 the water and catches fish, for whose appearance 

 within its reach it waits with all the patient gravity 

 of a devoted angler. It even plays the vulture when 

 occasion serves ; for, though carrion of any kind is 

 not so plentiful in the polar latitudes as in the warmer 

 ones, there are seasons at which it is rather abundant. 

 Of the ground birds of the north, there are many 

 which quit that part of the world with reluctance, 

 and not till they are literally driven by the storms. 

 Those storms are excessively violent ; and, as the 

 snow thickens the air to dimmest twilight,the affrighted 

 birds lose their way, and also all command of them- 

 selves, and vast numbers of them find their graves 

 in the snow wreaths. Their bodies do not putrify 

 there, but are preserved by the frost, until the return- 

 ing sun of a new season melts away the annual 

 mantle of the ground. Spoils of birds, and also of 

 small quadrupeds, are then disclosed in considerable 

 numbers ; and these furnish a supply for the snowy 

 owls, and other predatory birds, until the summer 

 tenants of the northern wilds make their appearance. 



During the time that the country is completely 

 sealed up with snow, and the greater part of nature 

 slumbering in the unbroken serenity of winter, the 

 supply of these birds is somewhat different. As 

 every observer of nature in the snowy districts of 

 Britain must have noticed, by the prints of little feet 

 along the surface, the small rodentia of the wilds 

 come upon the surface of the snow to seek the 

 exposed bark of bushes, and other vegetable matters ; 

 and it is on these rodentia that the more powerful 



