446 The Great Horned Owl 



siderably lighter, with more dull buff in their tints. The nest 

 is sometimes made in the hollows of large partially decayed trees, 

 and occasionally in the fissures of rocks. In these cases very 

 little preparation is made previously to the laying of the eggs. 



" The flight is elevated, rapid and graceful. It sails with 

 apparent ease ; and in large circles, in the manner of an eagle, 

 rises and descends without the least difhculty, by merely inclining 

 its wings or its tail as it passes through the air. Now and then 

 it glides silently close over the earth, with incomparable velocity, 

 and drops, as if shot dead, on the prey beneath. At other times, 

 it suddenly alights on the top of a fence stake, or a dead stump, 

 shakes its feathers, arranges them, and utters a shriek so horrid 

 that the woods around echo to its dismal sound. Now it seems 

 as if you heard the barking of a cur dog ; again, the notes are so 

 rough and mingled together, that they might be mistaken for the 

 last gurglings of a murdered person, striving in vain to call for 

 assistance, at another time, when not more than fifty yards 

 distant, it utters its more usual hoo, hoo, hoo-e^ in so peculiar an 

 under tone, that a person unacquainted with the notes of this 

 species might easily conceive them to be produced by an owl 

 more than a mile distant. During the utterance of all these 

 unmusical cries, it moves its body and more particularly its head, 

 in various ways, putting them into positions, all of which appear 

 to please it much, however grotesque they may seem to the eye 

 of man. In the interval following each cry, it snaps its bill, as if 

 by way of amusement ; or, like the wild boar sharpening the 

 edges of his tusks, it perhaps expects that the action will whet its 

 mandibles. 



It roosts by day in thick branching trees, its body being erect, 

 its plumage closed, its tufted head feathers partially lowered, and 

 its head half-turned and resting on one shoulder. 



When the sun shines brightly, this bird is easily approached ; 

 but if the weather be cloudy, it rises on its feet at the least noise, 

 erects the tufts of its head, gives a knowing kind of nod, flies off 

 in an instant, and generally proceeds to such a distance, that it is 

 difiicult to find it again. When wounded, it exhibits a revengeful 

 tenacity of spirit, scarcely surpassed by any of the noblest of the 

 Eagle tribe, disdaining to scramble away like the barred Owl, but 

 facing its enemy with undaunted courage, protruding its powerful 

 talons, and snapping its bill, as long as he continues in his 

 presence. On these occasions, its large goggle eyes are seen to 



