174 A DESCRIPTION OF 
that of the feline kind, that the creature can see much 
better at dusk than by daylight. The Barn Owl sees in 
a greater degree of darkness than the others ; and, on the 
contrary, the Horned Owl is enabled to pursue his prey 
by day, though with difficulty. Owls are sometimes 
tamed by persons in the country, who carefully rear them 
in a domestic state, from their propensity to chase and 
devour mice and other vermin, of which they clear the 
houses with as much address as cats. The Owl is a 
solitary bird, and is said to retire into holes in towers and 
old walls in the winter, and pass that season in sleep. 
The solitary bird of night 
Through the pale shade now wings his flight, 
And quits the time-shook tower : 
Where, shelter 'd from the blaze of day, 
In philosophic gloom he lay, 
Beneath his ivy bower. CARTER. 
The Harfang, or great Snowy Owl, (Strix nyctea) is 
another species which takes its prey occasionally by day- 
light. It is seldom seen in England, but frequently visits 
North Britain, particularly the Orkney and Shetland 
Islands. It is the only kind of Owl that has been known 
to feed on fish, which it strikes its talons into while in the 
water, and carries them off to its nest. These Owls are 
very common in the northern parts of North America, 
and they are said to be eaten not only by the Indians, but 
by the Europeans engaged in the fur- trade. 
