186 STOEIES ABOUT BIRDS. 



For fourteen nights, in succession, the same 

 attention was paid to the wants of the captive 

 bird. The game which was left at the hen- 

 coop was generally a partridge which had just 

 been killed, though in one or two instances it 

 was some other bird. Whenever the gentle- 

 man or one of his servants watched at the 

 window, the old owls were cunning enough to 

 discover them, when they did not come near 

 enough to leave their game. But when they 

 were not watched, the breakfast was invariably 

 found in the morning. In the month of 

 August, which is the usual season at which 

 owls leave their young to take care of them- 

 selves, the parents ceased to make their nightly 

 visits to the hen-coop. 



The screech owl, which, as my young 

 readers need scarcely be told, is not very much 

 admired in this country, is said to be held 

 sacred by the Mongul and Kalmuck Tartars. 

 They pay almost divine honors to it. The 

 reason for such a singular devotion, I have 

 been told, is that one of these birds was once 

 the means of saving the life of a great prince 

 of their's, named Jenghis Khan. That prince, 

 when defeated by his enemies, was forced to 

 hide himself in a dense forest. He selected for 

 his retreat, a place under a tree upon which 



