THE EMI'IHE OF THE AlR. 489 



coiifoniiiitiou of the featlicrs, wlijcli ;ire not constructed like tbose of 

 dim iial birds, aud the sliock of the <iiiills af>aiiist eacli other is dead 

 eiied by an exeeediugly soft down. It is ouly at dawn, in the spring-, 

 that the bird is to be seen liigh in air; tlien an occasional couple is 

 seen wheeling- up high, but as the day advances they rapidly come down 

 and make for their gloomy dens, Avliere they remain crouched till sunset. 

 One evening 1 witnessed the setting out of two owls on their hunt. I 

 had clind)ed with a young guide to a cavern high up, and we looked down 

 upon the pine forest. The day was dying away. We were sheltered be- 

 hind a large rocky shoulder which hid us perfectly, and there we waited. 

 Five minutes after sunset an owl appeared, as if by enchantment, 

 perched on a rock in front of the cavern. We had neither seen nor 

 heard it come. A few instants later a second bird appeared, taller and 

 larger than the first; this was the female, and it was huge; its height 

 was at least 31 inches. They slowly turned their horned faces from 

 side to side, then one awakened the echoes of tlie valley with three 

 piercing notes, and yet harmonious, in the fashion of screech-owl melody. 

 Tlie voice is strange and impi'csses much. Then the male descended 

 to a rivulet tlowing from the glacier; the female followed; they drank, 

 bathed their faces a little and re-asccndcd to the rock where first we 

 saw them. There they dried themselves and smoothed their feathers, 

 and then they began to dance. I had been told beforehand of this 

 performance and it had been described in terms so excessive that I had 

 not believed; but now I witnessed the most grotesque scene v*'hich can 

 be imagined. Fancy two huge creatures, by no means elegant, S|)ringiug 

 into the air alternately like jumping jacks. sua])ping their beaks by way 

 of accompaniment. 



At this extraordinary sight a wild guffaw escai)ed me; the shepherd 

 l^ut his hand upon my arm to beg for silence. 1 looked for the l)irds 

 and they were gone, the rock was bare; they iiitted away as silently as 

 theycame. I visited their eyrie; there was scattered aboutsome 400 orr»00 

 pounds of bon(\s, cliieHy of the hare, of tips of ])artridges' wings, and 

 of the balls of hair rijected trom the l)ird's stomach. 



1 possessed a couple of these biids in captivity. They were the 

 young of the pair 1 have just described. During the ensuing year the 

 little shepherd took them from the nest and brouglit tliein tome. 



These birds, althougli th<'ir wing s})rea<l is nearly feet across, 

 flew ])erfectly well in a cage 1«» by 40 feet. They went in ditferent di 

 recti(ms, making several wlioh' rounds without coming to rest, while 

 the large diurnal birds of ])re,\- in th(» same cage c(»ntined themselves 

 to single. journeys lengthways, passing over tiie space with three noisy 

 b(>ats of wing. 



The Heron type. — This table comprises birds jxjssessing large sustaining- 

 surfaces in proportion to their weight. Now what is nature's object in eii- 

 (]<'>wingthem with such excess in thatdirection *. Itis]m)bably to enable 

 them to soar in calm weather when the wind is light, and above all to 



