170 By Leafy Ways. 



population, from the story that the sleeping sentries of 

 King William's army were roused, and the Orange 

 army saved from destruction, by the noise which a 

 party of these little birds made in pecking crumbs 

 from a Protestant drum-head. 



Like the robin, the wren is said to have injured 

 itself in a public spirited attempt to bring fire from 

 heaven. Its feathers having been all burnt off, the 

 other birds lent it some of theirs, with the single ex- 

 ception of the owl, who for its selfish and ungrateful 

 conduct was banished from society, and has ever since 

 been obliged to wait till nightfall before he can stir 

 abroad. 



Owls have never been popular birds. The gloomy 

 and retiring habits of most species, and the blood- 

 curdling screech of some of them, have earned for the 

 whole tribe an evil reputation. We read in Pliny that, 

 on two occasions, a large owl having made its appear- 

 ance in the streets of Rome, a solemn ceremony was 

 performed by the whole city to avert the catastrophe 

 foreshadowed by visits from such awful - looking 

 monsters. 



Not a few bird-myths are connected with death or 

 ill-fortune. Even in this matter-of-fact age there are 

 probably many places where all hope of a sick man's 

 recovery would be given up if a crow, or even a rook 

 or a jackdaw, flew over the dwelling. In the Orkneys 

 the same belief attaches to the ring-ouzel, and there 

 are districts in England where the sudden appearance 



