272 

 Sno(ay 



All owls have the habit of sitting still 

 upon some high point which harmonizes 

 with the general color of their feathers, and 

 swooping upon any sound or movement that 

 indicates game. The long-eared, or eagle- 

 owl invariably selects a dark-colored stub, 

 on top of which he appears as a part of the 

 tree itself, and is seldom noticed ; while the 

 snowy owl, whose general color is soft gray, 

 will search out a birch or lightning-blasted 

 stump, and sitting up still and straight, so 

 hide himself in plain sight that it takes a 

 good eye to find him. 



The swooping habit leads them into queer 

 mistakes sometimes. Two or three times, 

 when sitting still in the woods watching for 

 birds, my head has been mistaken for a rat 

 or squirrel, or some other furry quadruped, 

 by owls, which swooped and brushed me 

 with their wings, and once left the marks of 

 their claws, before discovering their mistake. 



Sometimes the crows find one of these 

 snowy visitors on the beach, and make a 

 great fuss and racket, as they always do 

 when an owl is in sight. At such times he 



