THE BEAUTY OF THE NIGHT 355 



dering about in the darkness one of these birds 

 may swoop down in its chase after moths and utter 

 its loud, discordant ' ' peent. " It is quite enough to 

 make one's hair stand on end. Rarely the screech 

 owl (Otus asio) pours out its long wavering trill, 

 which like the notes of most owls is decidedly 

 mournful. Around old or abandoned buildings 

 one may occasionally hear the squawk of a barn 

 owl (Aluco pratincola) or possibly catch a glimpse 

 of him as he flits noiselessly by hunting hife prey. 



The frogs are much in evidence at night and 

 their cries are always welcome to him whose ear is 

 attuned to the voices of nature, but their notes are 

 not melodious. In his delightful Natural His- 

 tory of Selbourne Gilbert White says: "Sounds 

 do not always give us pleasure according to their 

 sweetness and melody ; nor do harsh sounds always 

 displease. We are more apt to be captivated or 

 disgusted with the associations which they pro- 

 mote, than with the notes themselves. Thus the 

 shrilling of the field cricket though sharp and 

 stridulous, yet marvelously delights some hearers, 

 filling their minds with a train of summer ideas of 

 everything that is rural, verdurous, and joyous." 



In the north frog music is one of the earliest and 



