Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 3, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 April 1859 — BIRDS OF JASPER COUNTY, No. 2. [ARTICLE]

BIRDS OF JASPER COUNTY, No. 2.

[For the Rensselaer Gazette.

i The Snowy Owl or White Eagle. This bird is only a visitor to our county. Migrating toward autumn from its native north, it reaches us in November, and returns early in the spring, remaining during the winter. It sometimes wanders as far j south as Kentucky and Georgia. The length i of the male and female range from twenty- ■ six to thirty inches; across the wings, from ■ four and half to five feet. The eye is yeli low and large, with rings of 1 brown; claws and bill black; body nearly white, spotted ■ and barred with dusky brown and black. The legs and feet, which are short and strong, are covered with a thick coat of long feathers. The tail is rounded and reaches a little beyond the wings. It hunts both by night and by day, but is most active during the night. An unusual number, perhaps several hundred, have visited this county the past win'er. They i often go in pairs. On their first arrival , this season, they seemed to ap rehend no i danger and were almost without fear. Lighting upon a stone in the prairie, a stake or i rail, a hay-stack, or even upon the foof of a dwelling-diouse, they suffered people to ap- . proach within a few feet, being nearly as j tame as domestic fowls. Many have been killed. When wounded they are exceedingly fierce. Falling upon their back, they i use their strong claws (the curved sharp nails of one I measured being an inch and a • quarter long) and beak, with the greatest ' rage, which is overcome only in death. Several within the winter, have been , caught and tamed. They are easily pro- ! voked but are not malicious, and feed in the presence of their captors without hesitation ; or shyness. Its flight is noiseless, firm, linear and pro- ! traded, and when on the cha-e, as rapid as i the Eagle, darting upon its prey with sudden and fatal precision. Pigeons, ducks, prairie hens, and other birds are pursued by it, and s ricken down, then seizing them in its claws, it bears them to a convenient place of repast. It feeds also upon rabbits, squirrels, muskrats, house rats and mice. It carries off large rabbits without difficulty. I saw one flying with a live r.-.t in its claws. It tears the flesh, from its prey, swallowing it in large pieces, with feathers, hair and bones. It Swallows mice whole, and will eat the whole of a duck or rabbit at a meal. But its stomach does not digest either hair or the filiments of feathers. Although many domestic fowls perch in the branches of trees and other exposed situations in the open air, in Jasper county, during the winter, I have never known this bird to disturb them. Vln its presence thev manifest little signs of fear. ■ It is said the color of the young is pale brown and becomes white by age.