BirDs OF PREY. 183 
the pipe was taken down, very deliberately emerged 
a most solemn-looking owl that had had enough of 
man’s contrivance,—so very much, indeed, that it laid 
down and died. 
The Great Horned or Eagle-owl is found over all 
of Eastern North America. It is a splendid, stately 
bird, and when seen perched upon a tall tree, backed 
by a glowing sunset, is a picture to be remembered. 
It is essentially a bird of the woods, or at least of 
remote localities with some heavy growths of timber, 
and there it proclaims its presence by a loud hod-hoo- 
hoo-hob-hoo. 
In New Jersey it is principally seen as a winter 
visitor in the settled portions of the State, but holds 
its own in the backwoods. 
They feed upon small mammals generally, and in 
winter, when pressed for food, attack the poultry. A 
word in their favor is that they attack and devour 
skunks. Strange taste! 
The Snowy Owl should be seen alive, and in an 
evergreen forest, to be fully appreciated. It is then 
truly a superb bird. This owl is an arctic species, 
and yet does not require a particularly cold winter 
to induce it to come very far south of its proper 
habitat. When they do come in the late autumn 
southward, they generally follow the sea-coast and 
do not spread over the back country, but of course 
there are exceptions, and it was such a case that I 
witnessed, the birds being on the Delaware River 
shore, seventy miles from the sea. They are found 
less frequently in the interior States in winter. In 
New England their appearance is regular. 
