34 OWLS' POWERFUL ' MEDICINE/ 



Coleridge, in ' Christabel :' 



Tis the middle of the night by the castle clock, 

 And the owls have awakened the crowing cock. 



Again, Longfellow, in ' Hyperion,' speaks of 

 the owl ' as a monk that chants midnight mass in 

 the great temple of Nature.' 



With every Indian tribe I have ever met with, 

 either east or west of the Rocky Mountains, the 

 owls, whether large or small, are always held 

 sacred their feathers being worn as charms by 

 the medicine-men or conjurors of the tribes. It 

 is perhaps fortunate for the owls they are so 

 dreaded. There are many Indian traditions I 

 could relate, where terrible calamities have in- 

 variably followed the warnings of the Pigmy 

 Owl, but space forbids. 



Why such an exquisite type of Creative Wis- 

 dom beautiful in plumage, retiring in habit, 

 harmless, and gentle should inspire terror and 

 aversion, are mysteries I must leave to wiser 

 heads than mine to solve. 



Hardly has the snow left the hillsides and sunny 

 slopes, and whilst deep patches still linger in the 

 valleys and shaded spots; when early spring- 

 flowers peep out, here and there, from some 

 sheltered spot, and the bursting buds but faintly 

 reveal the leafy treasures hidden within their' 



