SNOW OWL. 
115 
and extremely sharp. The whole plumage, below the surface, 
is of the most exquisitely soft, warm, and elastic kind; and so 
closely matted together, as to make it a difficult matter to pene- 
trate to the skin. 
The usual food of this species is said to be hares, grous, rab- 
bits, ducks, mice, and even carrion. Unlike most of his tribe, 
he hunts by day as well as by twilight, and is particularly fond 
of frequenting the shores and banks of shallow rivers, over the 
surface of which he slowly sails, or sits on a rock, a little raised 
above the water, watching for fish. These he seizes with a sud- 
den 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, colour, and singular aspect, at- 
tract general notice. 
In the month of October I met with this bird on Oswego river. 
New York, a little below the falls, vigilantly watching for fish. 
At Pittsburg, 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 disposed to superstition, would have deduced some dire 
or fortunate prognostication, from their selecting such a place; 
but the only solicitude was how to get possession of them, which 
after several vollies was at length effected. One of these, a fe- 
male, I afterwards examined, 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 al- 
together unknown to the inhabitants of that quarter, and excited 
general surprise. A person living on the eastern shore of Mary- 
land, shot one of these birds a few months ago, a female, and, 
having stuffed the skin, brought it to Philadelphia, 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 
