148 



OWLS. 



the opening or shutting of the mandibles can be observed. 

 As it is a bird of courage, the sportsman must be cautious 

 how he attempts to handle it, for it has been known to 

 spring up in the fiercest manner, and offer a most desperate 

 resistance. 



Eye and Bill of Owl. 



Head of Long-eared Owl. 



There are upwards of sixty species of Owls, widely spread 

 over almost every part of the known world : of these, we 

 may count not fewer than eight as more or less frequenting 

 this country ; of which by far the most beautiful is the great 

 Snowy Owl (Strix nyctea), which may fairly, from its size 

 and noble appearance, be called the Golden Eagle, or very 

 king of Owls. It is a rare visitant, indeed, in England, 

 chiefly confining itself to the wildest and most desolate regions 

 of the north, where, amidst almost perpetual snows, it passes 

 its solitary life. When in perfection, its plumage is of the 

 most dazzling snowy white, with a few darker spots, chiefly 

 about the head. Its thick feathery coating is most admirably 

 adapted for the countries in which nature has appointed it to 

 live. 



During the three summer months in those inhospitable 

 regions, the temperature of the air is little above the freezing- 

 point, and during the remainder of the year far below it : 

 were it not, therefore, for the mass of thick down and feathers 

 in which its body is shrouded, it must soon perish under the 

 intensity of cold ; but as it is, it has nothing to fear ; for 

 with the exception of the tip of its beak and the extremitie 



