394 STRIGIN.T.. 



liarly noiseless and buoyant flight was necessary, to enable tlieni 

 to steal unawares upon a timid and vigilant, and hover with ease 

 while searching for a concealed or lurking prey. They fly in an 

 apparently unsteady or wavering manner, and so gentle is the 

 motion of their downy wings, that one is not by hearing ren- 

 dered sensible of their immediate presence. Some species how- 

 ever have a more direct, vigorous, and hawk-like flight. When 

 alighted on a flat surface, they bring forward the outer toe, 

 and incline the body considerably, so as not to injure the tail ; 

 but when perched on a narrow space, they stand nearly erect, 

 and reverse the outer toe. By day they repose on rocks, or 

 other elevated objects, or in the hollows of trees, in recesses of 

 buildings, or cavities of rocks, some species however on the 

 ground. The form of their feet, and especially the elongation 

 and curvature of their finely pointed claws, incapacitate them 

 from walking, so that in moving from one place to another 

 they advance by awkward Laps. They are solitary, or live 

 in pairs, their kind of food rendering associations injurious. 

 Their peculiar physiognomy gives them an appearance of gro- 

 tesque gravity, which men have mistaken for wisdom ; while 

 their nocturnal habits, and retired and often gloomy haunts, 

 together with their harsh or uncouth cries, have wrought upon 

 the imagination until the Owl has become associated with 

 calamity, desolation, and death. Owls however are generally 

 very harmless, and often very beneficent creatures. Such of 

 them as are truly nocturnal, seem bewildered and blinded when 

 accidentally abroad by day, and are liable to be insulted and 

 buffeted by other birds. When surprised or irritated. Owls hiss 

 in the manner of the domestic cat, and click their bills. Some 

 species have a harsh shrieking cry, and others emit various 

 sounds, not always disagreeable, which are denoted by the 

 term hooting. 



They nestle in the hollows of trees, in crevices of rocks, in 

 dark corners in buildings, on lofts in outhouses, in dove-cots, 

 and sometimes on the ground. The nest is rudely constructed 

 of twigs and grass ; or sometimes there is none at all ; or the 

 deserted nest of another bird is adopted. The eggs are gene- 

 rally roundish, or broadly elliptical, but sometimes oval, always 



