130 BIRDS AND MAN 



the auks, loons, and grebes ; eagles and falcons ; 

 cuckoos, pigeons, goatsuckers, owls, crows, rails, 

 ducks, waders, and gallinaceous birds. The cries 

 and shrieks of some among these, particularly 

 when heard in the dark hours, in deep woods and 

 marshes and other solitary places, profoundly im- 

 press and even startle the mind, and have given 

 rise all the world over to numberless superstitious 

 beliefs. Such sounds are supposed to proceed 

 from devils, or from demons inhabiting woods 

 and waters and all desert places ; from night- 

 wandering witches ; spirits sent to prophesy death 

 or disaster ; ghosts of dead men and women 

 wandering by night about the world in search of 

 a way out of it ; and sometimes human beings 

 who, burdened with dreadful crimes or irremediable 

 griefs, have been changed into birds. The three 

 British species best known on account of their 

 supernatural character have very remarkable voices 

 with a human sound in them : the raven with his 

 angry, barking cry, and deep, solemn croak ; the 

 booming bittern ; and the white or church owl, 

 with his funereal screech. 



It is, I think, plain that the various sensations 

 excited in us by the cries, moans, screams, and the 

 more or less musical notes of different species, are 



