Tiie Owls are easily known by their big 
round heads, the manner in which the large 
eyes are set in front of the face, and the 
curious circle of stiff feathers which surround 
the eyes. 
They are almost entirely birds of night, 
pursuing their prey during the hours of dark- 
ness, and being so greatly incommoded by 
daylight that they are partly blinded by the 
glare and cannot direct their flight. 
The Canada or Hawk Owl lives in North 
America, Northern Asia, and Europe. It is 
very common in Canada. 
The food of the Canada Owl consists 
chiefly of rats, mice, and insects, during the 
summer months ; but in the winter, while 
rats and mice keep within their homes, and 
the insects are as yet in their pupa state, the 
Canada Owl turns its attention to birds, and 
will even chase and kill so powerful a bird as 
the ptarmigan. It is a very bold bird, and 
has been known to pounce upon and carry 
aw r ay wounded game that has fallen before 
the sportsman's gun. While chasing the 
ptarmigan it follows the course of their 
migration, hanging about the flocks and 
making sad havock in their numbers. 
CANADA OWL . — Siirnia ulula. Although so bold and so successful a 
hunter, the Hawk Owl is by no means a large 
bird, being only from fifteen to seventeen inches in length, and therefore not 
equalling the common hen harrier in dimensions. Its nest is generally made on 
the top of a tree, and not in the hollow of the trunk as is commonly the case 
with the Owls, which usually take possession of a hollow in some dead branch 
and lay their eggs on the soft decaying wood, or make their home in a con- 
venient crevice of some old building. The male Hawk Owl is rather less than 
the female, as is the case with most predaceous birds. 
The plumage is closer than that of the generality of Owls, whose feathers are 
fringed with delicate downy filaments, for the purpose of enabling them to float 
noiselessly through the air, for the Hawk Owl is a swdft-winged bird, and obtains 
its prey by fair chase. 
