STOKIES ABOUT BIRDS. 187 



was a nest of the screech owl. When his 

 pursuers came to the place where he was 

 concealed, and saw the owl's nest, with the 

 bird sitting upon it, they very naturally con- 

 cluded that the prince could not be there. So 

 they did not search about the tree, and the 

 prince was not discovered. Ever since that 

 circumstance, and on account of it; if we may 

 credit the somewhat doubtful voice of tradition, 

 the screech owl has been regarded as a sacred 

 bird. 



A carpenter, passing through a field near 

 Gloucester, England, was attacked by a barn 

 owl, that had a nest of young ones in a tree 

 near the path. The bird flew at his head, and 

 the man, striking at her with a tool he had 

 in his hand, missed his blow, when the owl 

 repeated the attack, and with her talons fas- 

 tened on his face, tore out one of his eyes, and 

 scratched him in the most shocking manner. 



Shall I tell you how a couple of owls were 

 once the means of doing a great service to an 

 empire ? The story is a good one, and said to 

 be true : Sultan Mahmoud — so runs the tale — 

 by his wars abroad and his tyranny at home, 

 had filled his dominion with ruin and desola- 

 tion, and half unpeopled the Persian empire. 

 The Vizier of this great Sultan pretended to 



