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Sharp-shinned; next, the Pigeon Hawk, and, lastly, 

 the little Sparrow Hawk, with its elegant, cinnamon- 

 coloured back and black bands on its tail. Here is a 

 famous individual, the great Duck Hawk, Bullet- 

 headed Hawk, as some style him, who is no other 

 than the celebrated Peregrine Falcon of the clays 

 of chivalry ; he is tolerably common in Canada 

 West; one was shot at Charlesbourg, near Quebec 

 some years back. The limits of my discourse prevent 

 me from quoting, for your benefit, the elegant and 

 graphic descriptions of the Peregrine and his fearless 

 compeers, sketched by Audubon. Shall we leave 

 this fierce band of day-robbers, and investigate the 

 doings of those formidable midnight raiders, the Owls ? 

 How grave, how omniscient they look, with their 

 rolling, shining, yellow eyes, their soft plumage and 

 their warm fur-leggings, impervious to cold the most 

 intense ! There, he sits on his perch, the dignified 

 patriarch of the tribe : the Great Cinerous Owl ; 

 look at him well ; he is not an every-day visitor by 

 any means, the largest of the owls ; he even exceeds 

 in size that white and fierce marauder, the Snowy Owl, 

 the Great Northern Hunter, as he is aptly styled ; 

 you may know, he is frequently shot in the surrounding 

 country during the winter months. Nature has adapted 

 wonderfully these birds to the climates they inhabit. 

 They hunt by day as well as by night, and in the 

 soft moonlight you can scarcely hear the muffled sound 

 of their wings when pursuing hares or other small 

 animals. Of the ferocity of the Snowy Owl, unques- 

 tionable proofs exist. The attack of a Snowy Owl, 

 rendered desperate by hunger, on a Roman Catho- 

 lic missionary, is amusingly related in a Journal of 

 Travel on the Labrador coast. The Rev. Father was 

 so astounded at the daring of the bird of Minerva that 

 he sought his safety in flight. Of the Virginian, or 

 Great Horned Owl, there are, according to Baird, five 

 varieties — Atlanticus, Magellanicus, Pacificus, Arc- 

 Si 



