. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. 224 ORDEKS OF BIRDS—BIEDS OF PREY bination cover practically the whole of North America down to Costa Rica. By reason of the live food available in winter, these birds are not migratory. The Snowy OwP is a bird of the Arctic wastes, and reaches the northern United States only as a winter visitor. Its occurrence with us varies from a total scarcity during some years to an abundance during others. During December, 18S6,—the beginning of the awful winter which killed over 90 p
. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. 224 ORDEKS OF BIRDS—BIEDS OF PREY bination cover practically the whole of North America down to Costa Rica. By reason of the live food available in winter, these birds are not migratory. The Snowy OwP is a bird of the Arctic wastes, and reaches the northern United States only as a winter visitor. Its occurrence with us varies from a total scarcity during some years to an abundance during others. During December, 18S6,—the beginning of the awful winter which killed over 90 per cent of the range cattle in Montana,—we saw in the country in which we. Photo, by C. William Beebe, N. Y. Zoological Park. SNOWY OWL. were hunting buffalo, in central Montana, at least twenty-five Snowy Owls. They were liv- ing on hares, rabbits, and sage-grouse, out in the open, twenty miles from the nearest timber. It was their habit to alight upon the tops of the low buttes, in reality upon the ground, from which they could survey a wide circle of sage- brush plains. Whenever there is an annual "flight" of Snowy Owls, they are always par- ticularly numerous in Minnesota. But for its perfectly round and rather comical- looking head, this bird would be the most beau- tiful of all American owls. Its plumage varies ' Nyc'te-a nyc'te-a. Average length, about 23 inches, the female being larger than the male. from almost spotless snow-white, in some indi- viduals, to white barred all over with narrow horizontal bands of black—which is really the standard color-plan. The number and width of the black bands vary exceedingly in differ- ent individuals, some birds being rendered much darker than others. The food of this species consists of every kind of wild bird or small mammal it can catch; but there is no evidence that it ever destroys poul- try. In summer, when its far-northern home is full of migratory birds, nesting and rearing their young, its bill of fare i
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