SNOWY OWL. 149 



like other fishermen, watch for from the "brink of a stream. 

 Their mode, however, of angling, is in this case, as described 

 by Audubon, a very peculiar one: they approach the brink of 

 a rock, lay down flat upon it close to the water, and when 

 a fish comes within reach, strike at it with their talons, and 

 secure it with this natural kind of gaff. 



The note is said sometimes to resemble the cry of a person 

 in danger, but ordinarily it seems to resemble that of the 

 Cuckoo, but is shorter and quicker. They also hiss and fuff 

 like a cat, and make a snapping noise with their bills, 

 and sometimes croak like a frog. 



The nest is made on the ground, or upon rocks, though 

 sometimes, it is said, in trees, and is composed of branches. 



The eggs are white, but by Yeillot said to be spotted with 

 black, and two, three, or four in number, of which only two 

 are thought to be in general hatched. 



Male; weight, about three pounds or a little over; length, 

 from one foot ten or eleven inches to two feet; bill, black; 

 iris, bright yellow; bristly white feathers nearly hide the bill. 

 The ruff round the head is scarcely apparent; it and the 

 crown, neck, nape, chin, throat, breast, and back, are white 

 in the fully adult bird, but spotted in less mature specimens 

 as in the female, but the spots are not so dark. The wings 

 extend to rather more than two thirds the length of the tail, 

 and expand to about four feet nine inches; greater and lesser 

 wing coverts, white. Primaries also white: the first is some- 

 times longer than the fifth, but often shorter; the second 

 and fourth are nearly equal, and a little shorter than the 

 third, which is the longest. Secondaries, tertiaries, larger 

 and lesser under wing coverts, all white; tail, wedge-shaped; 

 tail coverts, white. Legs, rough and completely covered with 

 long hairy feathers, which almost conceal the claws; the toes 

 are also covered by the plumage. Claws, black, very long, 

 and much curved, the inner and middle ones grooved, the 

 others round. 



The female does not often attain to the perfectly white 

 plumage; the spots are at the end of each feather, and of 

 a crescent shape on the breast, and more elongated on the 

 back. Weight, above three pounds; length, from two feet 

 one or two, to two feet three inches; bill, black; iris, bright 

 yellow; bristles as in the male. Head on the crown, thicky 

 studded with round black spots; neck and nape, spotted with 

 dark brown; chin, throat, and breast, white, spotted more or 



