48 
STKIGID^. 
steadily, and with the greatest apparent ease, tearing away 
both flesh and bone. When the prey is large, the first pro- 
ceeding after seizing it is to nip it rapidly all over, begin- 
ning at the nape of the neck, the bones being heard to 
break with every closure of the bill. A young well-fledged 
herring gull furnishes him with a single meal, those bones 
which are not swallowed always being picked very neatly. 
In the daytime it is his habit to remain inactive as if asleep, 
although the slightest unusual sound is sufficient to put him 
upon the alert. Towards sunset he becomes brisk and lively, 
and shakes off all appearance of drowsiness. I used to give 
him a stone to sit upon, but now he prefers a thick round 
branch, which he seldom quits. I am surprised to find that in 
perching he places only two toes of each foot in front, the outer 
one being as easily reversible as in the osprey. He knows me 
well from other people, and seems pleased to see me ; and 
although for the first few weeks all attempts at familiarity 
were furiously resisted, now, when I hold my hand above him, 
he merely snaps and hisses a little, but the moment I begin to 
stroke him upon the head, he closes his eyes and remains per- 
fectly quiet. A few days ago I threw the food to the back of 
the cage, instead of to the usual place in front. This seemed 
to puzzle him a good deal ; he repeatedly looked at it over his 
shoulder, and then at me ; at last he opened his bill to its full 
extent, and gave forth a shrill chirping kind of scream, the 
first sound except a hiss that I ever heard him utter. It is not 
always that I can find time to shoot a sufficient supply of birds 
and rabbits, and fresh meat is a rarity only to be procured at 
certain times of the year. I am therefore often at a loss how 
to keep him constantly and sufficiently fed. 
''January ^Ist, 1865. — The Snowy Owl, which has now been 
in my possession for more than seven months, has not yet 
moulted ; only a very few feathers, apparently injured ones, 
having been cast in autumn. He has been gradually becoming 
tamer, and until lately very little wish to escape was displayed ; 
but no sooner did the snow set in than he became restless, and 
