THE SNOWY OWL. 67 



down it tumbles headforemost into the snow. But it is only 

 winged; so, taking it by the wings stretched over the back, 

 I carry it home to surprise the family. That it is a female 

 is to be inferred from its great size and from its more 

 numerous dark markings; the male of this species being 

 sometimes so free of the dark spots as to appear pure white, 

 and the greater size of the female being peculiar to birds of 

 prey. 



Little children are apt naturalists, and have many 

 questions to ask on an occasion like this, so I use my bird 

 for an object-lesson. I call their attention to the large 

 head, peculiar to the Owls among birds; and, turning the 

 round, weird, half-human face fully before them, call their 

 attention to the large eyes fairly in front, while the eyes of 

 other birds are on the sides of the head; point to the circle 

 of fringed feathers around the eyes, part of which nearly 

 covers the bill, and part of which laps over the immense 

 ear-hole; and note the eye-lashes, so strange among birds 

 This large, round, cat-like face, having also an almost 

 human aspect, is at once the weirdest and the most highly 

 sensitive. It is all eye and ear, stealthily confronting every 

 sound that may break the stillness of the night, and every 

 object that may loom up in the gloaming or the darkness. 



" Do you see how the outer web of the outer wing-feathers 

 or primaries is recurved, as if it had been firmly brushed 

 backwards?" I asked my little girl. "What's that for?" 

 she inquired curiously. " So that it can fly without making 

 any noise," I replied; "that arrangement of the outer web, 

 as also the general softness and looseness of the plumage, 

 muffles the stroke of the wing, and enables the bird to steal 

 upon its prey in the still hours of the night without alarm- 

 ing it. All the Owls, being night-birds of prey, have this 

 modification of the wing." " O-o-o-o-oh! see that hole in 



