THE WHITE OWL. ' 559 



and especially in Canada. It appears casually in the North of 

 Europe, in Sweden and Norway. Its plumage is of a greyish- 

 brown colour. It feeds on hares, rahbits, rats, mice, reptiles, and 

 birds ; it is about fifteen inches high. Audubon often had an 

 opportunity of examining it. 



" Its cr}"-," says he, " is a maah, maahha, which one is tempted 

 to compare with the affected laugh of a votary of fashion. Often 

 in my distant excursions, when encamped under the trees, and 

 roasting a slice of venison or a squirrel by means of a wooden spit, 

 I have been greeted with the laughter of this nocturnal disturber. 

 It stopped at a few paces from me, exposing its whole body to the 

 gleam of my fire, and looking at me in such an odd way, that 

 had I not feared to make a fool of myself in my own eyes, I 

 should have politely invited him to come and partake of my 

 supper. This bird visits Louisiana, and is met with in all the 

 most isolated woods even in open day. If it appears likely to 

 rain, it laughs louder than ever ; its waah, waahlia, penetrates 

 into the most remote recesses of the woods, and its comrades 

 answer it in strange and discordant tones : one might almost think 

 that the Owl nation was celebrating 'Some extraordinary ySte." 



Audubon adds that when you approach one of these birds 

 it thoroughly scrutinises you, assuming at the same time the 

 most grotesque attitudes. If any one fires at it and misses, 

 it flies away, but stops at a little distance and utters its mocking 

 cry. 



The name Hawk Owls has been given to this genus, as it serves 

 as a transition from the Nocturnal to the Diurnal birds of prey. In 

 fact, although, by their general shape and physical conformation, 

 they evidently belong to the former, they are also connected with 

 the latter by their habits and mode of hunting, which are very like 

 those of the Sparrow-hawk ; hence their name. They are easily 

 recognised by their long and tapering tail, and by their free and 

 bold gait. They form a very characteristic group, and the species, 

 which are four in number, present but little diversity. 



The White Owl {Surnia nictea), the Strix nictea of Foster, 

 can be tamed ; but it must not be closely confined. It requires 

 both air and space to move about at will. Under these condi- 

 tions it constitutes a useful auxiliary to the farmer, and will 



