AVES. 311 



recesses of the caverns or the forest, their shrill hooting voices, and above 

 all their starinsr jTon-rrle-like eyes, have combined to form for them attributes 

 of mystery, and occasionally of veneration or of terror. Elevated by thr 

 refined Greeks to be the symbol of wisdom, by several modern European 

 nations the owl is known by no other name than " night hag," and its 

 character regarded equally contemptuously. No other bird has flourished 

 so largely amongst the poets. Virgil introduces it in various passages ; 

 Shakspeare gives great effect at its expense to the exclamation of Lady 

 Macbeth in the murder scene : 



" Hark ! Peace ! 



It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman 

 Which gives the stern'st good night — he is about it." 



More pleasantly, and without such a repulsive part to play, Coleridge 

 makes him sing in a chorus in " Christabel :" 



" 'Tis the middle of the night by the castle clock 

 And the owls have awakened the crowing cock, 



Tu-whit ! — tu-whoo ! 

 And hark again I — the crowing cock 

 How drowsily he crew." 



Sub-fam. 1. StrigincB, or Barn Owls. Head large with the facial disk 

 complete or nearly so. Ears very large and with an operculum. Wings 

 usually long; tarsi moderate; legs long and rather slender. Size much 

 varied. 



To this sub-family belong several of the most common American and 

 European owls. The American barn owl {Strix pratincola) is a species 

 \vhich, though not abundant, is generally known. It is, notwithstanding its 

 curious and rather comical physiognomy, a graceful and handsome bird. 

 The common Strix flaminea of Europe {pi. 104, fig. 1) very nearlv 

 resembles the American species, and was long considered the same bird ; 

 this remark applies, in fact, to several other species found in various parts 

 of the world. The European species is the bird usually alluded to by 

 authors, in English literature, as " The Owl." It is he who " mopes in the 

 ivy mantled tower" and " chaunts high mass at midnight" in many an 

 abbey where no one else does nowadays. 



Two other connnon American species are the long-eared and the short- 

 eared owls {Otus wilsonianus, and hrachyotus), both of which inhabit the 

 whole of North America. The latter, represented in pi. 104, fig. 2, is 

 common also in Europe. It is partial to meadows and marshes, and is not 

 nfraid to venture from its hiding-place by daylight as are the majority of 

 owls. The former is found exclusively in the deep pine or other forests, 

 and is a very shy and retired species. The long-cared owl of Europe {pi. 

 \Q4.fg. 3) much resembles that of North America. 



The barred owl {Syrnium nebulosum) is the most familiar and abundant 

 of all the large North American species. It may frequently be met with 



515 



