CHAPTER VIII.

Owls. Superstitions respecting.-Short-eared.-The Great Snowy Owl. -White Owl.-Mode of Feeding.-Attachment to Young.-Used in Bird-catching.—Burrowing Owl.-Dentirostral, Notch-billed Birds. -Shrikes.-Mode of Feeding. -Nests of.-Used in taking Falcons.Puff-backed Shrike.-Thrush Genus.-Instinctive Habits in Feeding. -Anecdote. -Thrush and Young Cuckoo. -Fly-catchers.-Cotinga. -Tanagers, Beauty of.-Serratirostral, or Serrated Beaks.-Hornbills. -Plenirostral, Strong-billed.-Grakles. - Paradise Birds.

THERE is still another family to be classed amongst the rapacious birds, and forming a natural link in the chain after

The Horned Owl.

Eagles and Falcons, namely, Owls. Everybody who has once examined them must have been struck with the leading points of resemblance. An Owl's bill is almost like a Hawk's, short, hooked, and, like its claws, evidently intended for the purpose of seizing and tearing to pieces its favourite food. An Owl's eye, too, is bright and clear, like a Hawk's, but, by being larger and more full, is better calculated for the twi

quest of prey. The chief peculiarities of the tribe consist in the advantages afforded them by nature respecting their mode of flight, and sense of seeing and hearing. It is evident that, in order to make a prize of mice, and other small animals, which easily hide themselves in the ground, or under grass or heath, great silence and clear-sightedness are necessary, as well as a very acute sense of hearing. Accordingly, the wing of an Owl is provided with feathers so remarkably soft and pliant, that in striking the air they make no resistance or rushing noise; and the bird is therefore enabled to steal along silently, in a manner very different from many other birds, such as wild Ducks, the whistling of whose wings may, particularly in a still night, be heard at a great distance; or even as the Plover, whose large, soft, flapping wings, at first sight, much resemble an Owl's, but which produce a well-known whirring sort of sound, as they wheel round and round in airy circles.

There is something so peculiar in the solemnity and secluded habits of this tribe of birds, that they have in all ages been regarded with a degree of superstitious feeling. Amongst the North American Indians it is customary for the priest or conjuror, on their most solemn meetings, to cover his head with the snowy skin of the great White Northern Owl; and by the ancients parts of its body were foolishly supposed to possess a sort of magical power: for instance, they imagined that the heart of the Screech-Owl, laid upon the breast of a sleeping person, would cause him to divulge secrets; or that, if carried into battle, it would inspire courage and avert danger. In this country, people of former days always considered it as a bird foreboding mischief, and it was customary to hunt them. on Christmas Eve; and even in later times superstitious persons have thought that the sudden appearance of an Owl, during the sickness of any member of the family, was a sure forerunner of death. These conceits wiser people have long since thrown aside; but nevertheless there is something so mournful and dismal in its night-shriek, and such a ghostly sort of motion in its silent, gliding movements, when seen

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glancing through the twilight, or hunting for food in a bright moonlight night, that we can scarcely be surprised at the strange opinions and prejudices of ignorant or superstitious people. Generally speaking, however, a more harmless, we may say a more useful, race of birds does not exist; since, with the exception of one or two of the larger and rarer species, their food consists entirely of vermin and insects very prejudicial to our crops, and which, but for these nocturnal hunters, might do serious mischief. A striking instance of their utility occurred some years ago in the neighbourhood of Bridgewater, in Somersetshire, where, during the summer, such incredible numbers of mice overran the country as to destroy a large portion of vegetation; and their ravages might have extended to an alarming degree, had it not been for a sudden assemblage of Owls, which resorted from all parts to prey upon them. Short-eared Owls, to the number of twenty-eight, have been counted in a single field, collected together, no doubt, by swarms of mice, which in a favourable season had been bred there. This particular Owl for the most part frequents England between the months of October and April, migrating in the spring to the northern islands of Scotland, where they breed. Its usual and favourite food is, as we have observed, field-mice; but they are bold, powerful birds, and when their young are to be provided for, will chase Pigeons, and even larger birds, in the open day, particularly if the weather is gloomy. In a nest containing only two unfledged young ones, the remains of a Grouse and two Plovers were found, besides the feet of several others.

During their visits to this country, they are usually to be met with on wild heaths and commons, concealed in rushy places or long grass: a pair, and sometimes more, possibly the brood of the preceding spring, are usually found frequenting the same haunts. When first disturbed, they seldom fly far, but either hover over the dog, if there be one, or alight, and depressing their two odd feathery horns (from whence they are called Eared Owls), they fix their large round eyes intently on the object of their alarm. As a specimen of these

Eared Owls, we insert a figure representing the head of the Long-eared Owl.

Their note is a singular snapping noise, not issuing from the throat, but occasioned entirely by a smart clicking of the bill so rapid, indeed, is this motion, that it is with difficulty the opening or shutting of the mandibles can be observed. it is a bird of courage, the sportsman must be cautious how he attempts to handle it, for it has been known to spring up in the fiercest manner, and offer a most desperate resistance.

As

The Owl.

There are upwards of sixty species of Owls, widely spread over almost every part of the known world of these, we may count not fewer than eight as more or less frequenting this country; of which by far the most beautiful is the great Snowy Owl, which may fairly, from

its size and noble appearance, be called the very king of Owls. It is a rare visitant, indeed, in England, chiefly confining itself to the wildest and most desolate regions of the north, where, amidst almost perpetual snows, it passes its solitary life. When in perfection, its plumage is of the most dazzling

snowy white, with a few darker spots, chiefly about the head. Its thick feathery coating is most admirably adapted for the countries in which nature has appointed it to live.

During the three summer months in those inhospitable regions, the temperature of the air is little above the freezingpoint, and during the remainder of the year far below it: were it not, therefore, for the mass of thick down and feathers in which its body is shrouded, it must soon perish under the intensity of cold; but as it is, it has nothing to fear; for, with the exception of the tip of its beak and the extremities of its long black claws, no part is exposed. And again, were it not for its colour, which renders it almost invisible, as it silently skims over the snowy plains, the hares and other animals on which it preys would see its approach, and be prepared for escape.

Of course, the habits of a bird so seldom coming under human observation can be but little known; but the few particulars we have been able to collect completely justify the above remarks. Thus, that its snowy plumage is essential to its means of existence, may be gathered from circumstances relating to a couple that were shot in the severe winter of 1823, in Northumberland. They had, for some days before they were killed, been observed in the wild and rocky parts of an open moor, either perched upon the snow, or on some large solitary stone projecting from it, from whence, without attracting notice by any contrasting colour, they could look out for their prey, and be prepared to seize it as it incautiously approached. As the smaller species hunt for mice, so does this search for hares and rabbits, on which it pounces, and in a similar manner swallows them, when possible, whole; a fact ascertained in the case of one shot at and wounded in the island of Balta, which, on being approached, disgorged an entire young rabbit; another, when taken, had a Sandpiper, with the whole plumage, in its stomach. As they were often found dead by Captain Sir Edward Parry, who spent so many months in their most frequented neighbourhood, it is concluded that they frequently perish from want of food; indeed, their