OWLS 



Owls are nocturnal birds of prey, and for this reason 

 feed more largely on small mammals — most of which are 

 nocturnal— than the diurnal birds of prey. They are 

 therefore of even greater value to the agriculturist than 

 hawks. 



Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^ 



Owls have Uttle flaps of skin with which they can shut 

 up their ears when they wish to be quiet. 



Olive Thorne Miller. First Book of Birds.^ 



Owls' eyes are so fixed in their sockets that they cannot 

 look from one point to another by simply ''rolling" the 

 eyeball, but are obhged to turn their head. 



Chapman. Handbook of Birds. ^^ 



The owl is the great bugaboo of the feathered tribes. 

 His appearance by day is hailed by shouts of alarm and 

 derision from nearly every bird that flies, from crows 

 down to sparrows. They swarm about him like flies, and 

 literally mob him back into his dusky retreat. 



Burroughs. Birds and Poets.^^ 



His occupancy of deserted houses and ruins has invested 

 him with a romantic character .... He deserves in 

 a special degree to be classed among those animals which 

 we call picturesque. 



Flagg. a Year With the Birds.^^ 



104 



