Snowy Viiitors. 1 75 



shine and in darkness ; and witli us he spends the 

 greater part of each day hunting along the beaches. 

 The birds at such times are never molested. He 

 seems to know that he is not good at dodging ; that 

 they are all quicker than he, and are not to be caught 

 napping. And the birds, even the little birds, have 

 no fear of him in the sunshine ; though they shiver 

 themselves to sleep when they think of him at night. 



I have seen the snowbirds twittering contentedly 

 near him. Once I saw him fly out to sea in the midst 

 of a score of gulls, which paid no attention to him. At 

 another time I saw him fly over a large flock of wild 

 clucks that were preening themselves in the grass. 

 He kept straight on ; and the ducks, so far as I could 

 see, merely stopped their toilet for an instant, and 

 turned up one eye so as to see him better. Had it 

 been dusk, the whole flock would have shot up into 

 the air at the first startled cjuack — all but one, which 

 would have stayed with the owl. 



His favorite time for hunting is the hour after dusk, 

 or just before daylight, when the birds are restless on 

 the roost. No bird is safe from him then. The fierce 

 eyes search through every tree and bush and bunch 

 of grass. The keen ears detect every faintest chirp, 

 or rustle, or scratching of tiny claws on the roost. 

 Nothing that can be called a sound escapes them. 

 The broad, soft wings tell no tale of his presence, and 



