SNOW OWL. 
93 
half the year, the silence of death and desolation might 
almost he 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 plumag*e, 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. 
In the month of October, I met with this bird 
on Oswego Biver, New York state, 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 Beach, I examined another, which 
was the first ever recollected to have been seen there. 
