THK SNOWY OWL. 
51 
Prefers a solitary rock in an open place, where stalking 
'would be difticult. 
Arrives either with a south-east or a northerly wind, but 
usually with the latter. 
Conies to the low gi'ouiids less fre(]^uently in the autumn, 
plovers and snow huntings then being plentiful upon the hills. 
The number of Owls is certainly no less than when he was a 
• boy ; “ but they take fancies, like the herrings, and will keep 
away from a place for years at a time.” 
AYhen it crouches flat upon the lee side of a large stone, rain 
may be expected soon. 
All animals are afraid of it, especially cows. “The old 
wives say that a cow gives bloody milk if it is frightened by 
an owl, and will fall sick and die if touched by it.” 
In stalking an owl, it is a good plan to plant a ramrod in the 
ground and let your handkerchief flutter from it ; then, quietly 
withdrawing, to creep up behind the bird while its attention is 
occupied. 
It most readily descends to low grcmnds in foggy weather. 
“ When he does, he first of all lights upon a dyke or a stone, 
sets his feathers close about him, makes himself small and 
long-shaped, and looks all around ; then he draws himself in 
close and full, and will sit there for a very long time if he does 
not see anything to catch.” 
“ Sometimes the tame ones, in eating a rabbit, would remove 
the entrails and finish the meal with them, keeping a very 
careful watch over them in the meantime.” 
Having examined upwards of a dozen recent specimens and 
some scores of skins, I stiU, with deference to the opinions of 
others, can perceive no reason to alter one word contained in a 
paper of mine published in the “ Zoologist” for 1863 (p. 8637), 
which I here transcribe : — 
“ It appears that the perfect plumage of the adult male is 
white, without spot, but that this state is not attained until 
ifter the lapse of several, perhaps many, years ; and also that 
in younger birds the form, intensity, and disposition of the 
