9318 Birds. 
healthy as an owl can possibly be. It appears to be a male, and it: 
must be of some considerable age, for it is very much whiter than most 
specimens which have been seen here. For about the first week of 
his imprisonment he would not touch food, although I kept him as 
quiet as possible, and offered various temptations in the form of birds 
of various sizes, rabbits and raw meat. For the first two days he was 
decidedly in the sulks, retiring to the most distant corner of the cage, 
and scarcely taking any notice of my approach; but afterwards he 
became more lively, and the moment I went near he would dash wildly 
about, snapping loudly with his bill, and hissing in great displeasure. 
At length, fearing that he would starve, 1 was compelled to resort to 
main force, aud accordingly fed him for several days with ringed 
plovers, which 1 pushed down his throat as far as I could reach, first 
cutting off the head, wings and legs. The process seemed rather 
to astonish him, and no sooner was the operation over than he stretched 
his neck, tightened the feathers upon his head so as to make it appear 
ridiculously sinall, closed one eye, inclined his head first to one side, 
then to the other, and altogether behaved in such an exceedingly 
comical manner that it was with no little difficulty that I could 
identify the foolish-looking bird before me with the mighty Strix 
nyctea, which always looks so solemn and sedate in books and 
museums. However, in a very few minutes afterwards, when he had 
been returned to his cage, he resumed his former grave appearance, 
maintaining it until he received his next meal upon the following day. 
I observed that the pellet of bones and feathers was never cast up 
earlier than two hours after each meal; sometimes it was many hours 
later. One lucky day, about a fortnight after he came into my pos- 
session, I found a dead mouse, and forthwith deposited it in the cage. 
Such a tempting morsel was not to be resisted, and upon my returu 
very shortly afterwards it had disappeared: the ice was fairly broken 
at last,and thenceforward he fed himself. After this I placed small 
birds before him regularly every evening, and they as regularly dis- 
appeared in about an hour’s time. For many days I endeavoured to 
get a view of the bird while in the act of feeding, and frequently spent 
an hour at a time peeping through a small hole in the side of the cage, 
but it was time spent in vain, for he would never touch his food while 
I remained near, although he soon devoured it after my departure. 
I fed him regularly at sunset, and still continue to do so, never 
omitting a peculiar whistle when I bring him food. He very soon 
learned the meaning of the sound, and although at other times he 
regards my presence with great composure, the moment I make the 
