OWLS. 181 



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

 desperate resistance. 



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 nycteci), which may fairly, from its size and 

 noble appearance, be called the Golden Eagle, 

 or very king of Owls. It is a rare visitant, in- 

 deed, 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 in- 

 hospitable regions, the temperature of the air is 

 little above the freezing-point, and during the re- 

 mainder 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 extremities of its long black claws, 

 no part is exposed. And again, were it not for its 

 colour, which renders it almost invisible, as it 

 silently skims over the snowy plains, the hares and 

 other animals on which it preys would see its 

 approach, and be prepared for escape. 



Of course, the habits of a bird so seldom coming 



