This singular change of plumage enables it, when the mountains
are covered with snow, to escape the observation of the eagle, Iceland
falcon, and the snowy owl: the feathers become much fuller, thicker, and
more downy; the bill is almost hidden, and the legs become so thickly
covered with hair-like feathers, as to resemble the legs of some
well-furred quadruped.
* * * * *
PATMOS.
[Illustration: Letter P.]
Patmos affords one of the few exceptions which are to be found to the
general beauty and fertility of the islands of the Aegean Sea. Its
natural advantages, indeed, are very few, for the whole of the island is
little else than one continued rock, rising frequently into hills and
mountains. Its valleys are seldom susceptible of cultivation, and
scarcely ever reward it. Almost the only spot, indeed, in which it has
been attempted, is a small valley in the west, where the richer
inhabitants have a few gardens. On account of its stern and desolate
character, the island was used, under the Roman Empire, as a place of
banishment; and here the Apostle St. John, during the persecution of
Domitian, was banished, and wrote the book of the Revelations. The
island now bears the name of Patino and Palmosa, but a natural grotto in
the rock is still shown as the place where St.
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