MAY. 177 



very fine species : it is a native of nearly the whole of North 

 America^ but is rarely met with here. Its voice is peculi- 

 arly loud and alarming : Wilson describes it in his usual 

 happy manner ; I have myself often heard it in the forests of 

 Alabama, where in travelling through the swamps, covered 

 with gigantic beeches and sycamores, entwined and tangled 

 by the various species of briers and vines that hang in fes- 

 toons from the trees, and amidst the evergreen bushes of the 

 hystrix fan-palm, this ^^ ghostly watchman" lifts up his hol- 

 low voice like a sentinel challenging the intruder. Through 

 the afternoon, and especially as day wanes into evening, 

 they may be heard from all quarters of the swamps ; and in 

 the deep solitude and general silence of these gloomy recesses, 

 the cry is peculiarly startling. " Ho ! oho ! oho ! waugh 

 ho ! " is his call ; the last syllable uttered with particular 

 earnestness, and protracted for some seconds, and gradually 

 falling. The whole is given deliberately, in a loud and 

 hollow tone; and one can scarcely be persuaded that it 

 comes from a bird. They call and answer to each other, 

 and I have made one answer my imitation of his call. But 

 it is at night that this delightful music is heard to most ad- 

 vantage : he sometimes makes a noise which Wilson justly 

 compares to the half-suppressed screams of a person throttled, 

 but I have heard this but seldom ; the first appears to be 

 his favourite song. There he goes ; as he flies, you may 

 observe how exceeding noiselessly he glides through the air : 

 all the owls have this property ; not a ruffle is to be heard : 

 this arises from the very soft nature of their feathers ; an 

 owl is almost all feathers, and they are loose and unwebbed 

 in most parts of the body, and offer little resistance to the 

 air. 



C. — What do they feed on ? 



F.-— Small birds, field-mice, squirrels, and any animals 

 that they can master. 



I 5 



