SNOW OWL. 
47 
The forlorn mountains of Greenland, covered with eternal 
ice and snows, where, for nearly half the year, the silence of 
death and desolation might almost be expected to reign, furnish 
food and shelter to this hardy adventurer ; whence he is only 
driven by the extreme severity of weather towards the sea- 
shore. He is found in Lapland, Norway, and the country 
near Hudson’s Bay, during the whole year ; is said to be 
common in Siberia, and numerous in Kamtschatka. He is 
often seen in Canada and the northern districts of the United 
States ; and sometimes extends his visits to the borders of 
Florida. Nature, ever provident, has so effectually secured 
this bird from the attacks of cold, that not even a point is left 
exposed. The bill is almost completely hid among a mass of 
feathers that cover the face ; the legs are clothed with such an 
exuberance of long, thick, hair-like plumage, as to appear 
nearly as large as those of a middle-sized dog, nothing being 
visible but the claws, which are large, black, much hooked, 
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 
penetrate to the skin. 
The usual food of this species is said to be hares, grouse, 
rabbits, 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 sudden 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, attract general notice. % 
* The following observations by Mr Bree of Allesly, taken from Loudon's 
Magazine of Natural History, will shew that other Owls also fish for their prey : 
— “ Probably it may not be generally known to naturalists, that the common 
Brown Owl, ( Strix stridula,') is in the habit — occasionally, at least — of feeding 
its young with live fish, — a fact which I have ascertained beyond doubt. Some 
