connected *with Objects of Natural History, 561 



which inhabits near Limjr, see in our Number for Decem- 

 ber.] 



The same Dread has been entertained tou^ards the Owl, arid 

 has been extended to all nocturnal Birds. — They appear only 

 at dark and twilight, when the feathered choir, which during 

 the day made the woods and vales reecho to their cheerful 

 notes, are slumbering in the recesses of the grove ; when 



** The seafowl is gone to her nest, 



And the beast is laid down in his lair j" 



the flowers, whose rising incense had perfumed the air, have 

 closed their petals and are at rest ; the frolicksome lamb sleeps 

 by its parent ; and nature is hushed to universal repose ; night 

 moths flit shadowy through the silent air ; and the bat on 

 leathern wing glides by : this is the calm, the silent, hour, 

 when imagination sees the forms of bygone years pass dreadful 

 before her view ; superstition adds terror to the darkness, and 

 beholds, horror-struck, the spirits of the departed glide by : 

 then it is that the nocturnal bird, which wanders lonely for its 

 food, is linked as the partner of those tremendous beings. 

 The owl flitting by the ivy-mantled tower of the village church, 

 and haunting the cemetery in the hours of darkness, is regarded 

 with suspicion and awe ; and hence it is detested as the omen 

 of sorrow, and is feared as the forerunner of the death of 

 men. If Mr. Waterton's example (V. 12.) were followed, 

 the dread of the owl, which is still entertained in remote places, 

 would be entirely removed. His sketch of the habits of this 

 bird, his plea in defence of it, and his evidence of the benefits 

 man receives from it, in V. 9 — 15., have done so much to 

 explode the vulgar notion, that all addition here would be 

 useless. 



iThe Yellowhammer [Emberiza Citrinella),'] — There is a 

 bird universally disliked by the British countryfolk, and, as 

 far as I can discover, without any reason ; I mean, the yellow- 

 hammer. Many persons who would not molest or injure the 

 nest and young of other birds, will invariably take, and even 

 ill-use, those of the yellowhammer. This prejudice appears 

 to be utterly unfounded. It is one of the prettiest of the 

 English birds, and at the same time one of the tamest. In 

 its appearance there is nothing to excite disgust, nor in its 

 conduct any thing that deserves punishment: its familiarity 

 with man seems the only cause of the unjust persecution of it ; 

 for it will be found that in all ages the birds which have excitedl 

 man's admiration are those which, by their lofty port and 

 their high and uncontrolled spirit, have prevented his too near 



Vol. VII.— No. 43. o o 



