TIIK SNOWY OWL. 
47 
coiitiiiiie to do so, never omitting a peculiar whistle wlien I 
bring him food. He very soon learned the meaning of the 
sound, and altliough at other times he regards my presence with 
great composure, the moment I make the signal near the out- 
house in which he is confined, I hear him jumping impatiently 
about the cage ; and even when the food is concealed from 
sight, he flaps his wings, and comes as far as the netting will 
allow him, evidently showing that the object of my visit is 
perfectly understood. It is only of late that he has con- 
descended to feed in my presence, and I have endeavoured to 
avail myself of the privilege to the utmost. The first thing T 
observed was the demolition of the fanciful theory that, 
because the feathers extend to the tip of the bill, this species 
never tears its prey. While he is feeding he raises and throws 
back these feathers upon either side, thus laying the bill com- 
pletely bare. In some former notes I assert that the Snowy 
Owl almost invariably swallows its food whole. The assertion 
was amply justified by the observations of others, as well as by 
my own upon the bird in a wild state ; but in confinement the 
reverse would seem to be more usually the case, as well with 
the other captives I have seen and heard of as with the bird I 
am writing about. Possibly, when in a wild state, he too used 
to swallow his prey hurriedly, and without tearing it ; but now, 
fearing no interruption, he proceeds more leisurely, and devours 
it piecemeal. His habit is first to tear off the head, next to 
pluck out most of the quill feathers, and then to tear off and 
swallow large pieces of flesh, — and bone also, if the bird be 
smaller than a crow. He will proceed in the same manner 
even with a twite or a sparrow. AVhen the bird or rabbit is 
thrown to him, he pounces upon it with the claws of one foot, 
sometimes of both. Occasionally, however, he will snap it up 
in his bill, and then, snatching it out with his claws, commence 
feeding in the usual way. During the whole process of feeding 
it is held down to the ground or the perch ; and in tearing it he 
displays enormous muscular power, seizing the mass with his 
bill, and without any wriggling or twisting, raising the head 
