126 BIRDS OF PREY. 



from its note, or from the resemblance this bore to the bel- 

 lowing of the ox. The Latin name Bubo has also reference 

 to the same note of this nocturnal bird. According to 

 Frisch, who kept one of these birds alive, its cries varied 

 according to circumstances ; when hungry it had a muling 

 cry like Puhu. I have remarked the young, probably, 

 of our species utter the same low, quailing cry, while yet 

 day-light, as it sat on the low branch of a tree ; the sound 

 of both is, at times, also not unlike that made by the 

 Hawks or diurnal birds of prey. Indeed,, in gloomy 

 weather, I have seen our species on the alert, flying 

 about many hours before dark, and uttering his call of 

 'yto ho, ko ko ho. Their usual prey is young rabbits, 

 squirrels, rats, mice, quails, and small birds of various 

 kinds ; and when these resources fail or diminish, they 

 occasionally prowl pretty boldly around the farm-yard in 

 quest of chickens, which they seize on the roost. Indeed 

 the European Horned Owl frequently contends with the 

 Buzzard for his prey, and generally comes off con- 

 queror ; blind and infuriate with hunger, one of these 

 has been known to dart even upon a man, as if for con- 

 flict, and was killed in the encounter.* My friend Dr. 

 Boykin, of Milledgeville, in Georgia, assured me that one 

 of our own daring nocturnal adventurers, prowling round 

 his premises, saw a cat dozing on the roof of a smoke- 

 house, and supposing grimalkin a more harmless, rabbit- 

 like animal than appeared in the sequel, blindly snatched 

 her up in his talons ; but finding he had caught a Tartar, 

 it was not long before he allowed puss once more to 

 tread the ground. In England the same error was com- 

 mitted by an Eagle, who, after a severe conflict with a 

 cat he had carried into the air, was at length brought to 



* This circumstance happened to a relative of the author's in Lancashire, in 

 whose possession he saw the mounted specimen of the bird. 



