82 
SNOW OWL. 
These he seizes with a sudden and instantaneous stroke of the foot, 
seldom missing his aim. In the more southern and thickly settled parts 
he is seldom seen ; and when he appears, his size, color, and singular 
aspect, attract general notice. 
In the month of October I met with tliis bird on Oswe!j;o river. New 
York, a little below the falls, vigilantly watching for fish. At Pittsburgh, 
in the month of February, I saw another, which had been shot in the 
wing some time before. At a place on the Ohio called Long Reach, I 
examined another, which was the first ever recollected to have been seen 
there. In the town of Cincinnati, state of Ohio, two of these birds 
alighted upon the roof of the court-house, and alarmed the whole town. 
A people more disjiosed to superstition, would liave deduced some dire 
or fortunate prognostication, from their selecting such a place ; but the 
only solicitude was how to get possession of them, Avhich after several 
volleys was at length etfccted. One of these, a female, I afterwards ex- 
amined, when on my way through that place to New Orleans. Near 
Bairdstown, in Kentucky, I met with a large and very beautiful one, 
which appeared to be altogether unknown to the inhabitants of that 
quarter, and excited general surprise. A person living on the eastern 
shore of IMaryland, shot one of these birds a few months ago, a female, 
and, having stuffed the skin, brought it to Philadelpliia, to ]Mr. Peale, 
in expectation no doubt of a great reward. I have examined eleven of 
these birds within these fifteen months last past, in different and very 
distant parts of the country, all of which were sliot either during winter, 
late in the fall, or early in spring ; so that it does not appear certain 
whether any remain during summer within the territory of the United 
States ; though I think it highly probal)le that a few do, in some of the 
more northern inland parts, where they are most numerous during 
winter. 
The color of this bird is well suited for concealment, Avhile roaming 
over the general waste of snows ; and its fliglit strong and swift, very 
similar to that of some of our large Hawks. Its hearing must be ex- 
quisite, if we judge from the largeness of these organs in it ; and its 
voice is so dismal, that, as Pennant observes, it adds horror even to the 
regions of Greenland l:)y its hideous cries, resembling those of a man in 
deep distress. 
The male of this species measures twenty-two inches and a half in 
length, and four feet six inches in breadth ; head and neck nearly white, 
with a few small dots of dull brown interspersed ; eyes deep sunk under 
projecting eyebrows, the plumage at their internal angles fluted or 
pressed in, to admit direct vision, below this it bristles up, covering 
nearly the Avhole bill ; the irides are of the most brilliant golden yellow, 
and the countenance, from the proportionate smallness of the head, pro- 
jection of the eyebrow, and concavity of the plumage at the angle of 
