AUGUST. 359 



PICTURESQUE ANIMALS. 



BY WILSON FLAGG. 



It may be observed that in pictures, when a certain effect 

 is required, an animal is often introduced whose character 

 and habits correspond with the scenery, or the sentiment to 

 be awakened. A scene in nature, without some such accom- 

 paniment, often fails in producing any emotion in the mind. 

 A heron standing on the borders of a solitary mere, a king- 

 fisher sitting on the leafless branch of a tree that extends 

 over the tide, a woodpecker climbing the denuded branch of 

 an oak, yield to the respective scenes in which they are rep- 

 resented a life and a character which could not be so well 

 expressed without them. A few cows grazing on a grassy 

 slope, a dog reposing at the doorstep of a cottage, or a cat 

 quietly slumbering inside of the window, are each sugges- 

 tive of pleasant images of rural life, and add greatly to the 

 interest of the scene. The majority of animals require to be 

 seen in connection with certain other objects to acquire a pic- 

 turesque expression : but there are others which are endowed 

 with this quality in a remarkable degree, and need only to be 

 seen in any situation to awaken a certain agreeable train of 

 images. 



Among birds the owl is often represented in engravings, 

 when it is designed to impart to the scene a character of desola- 

 tion. We often see this bird accompanying a picture of ruins or 

 of a deserted house, and in poetry he is introduced to awaken 

 certain trains of thought. Thus the poet Gray, when he 

 would add a desolate expression to his description of even- 

 ing, speaks of the owl as complaining to the moon of such as 

 molest his ancient solitary reign. The allusion to his noctur- 

 nal habits, and to his solitary dominions, brings still more viv- 

 idly to mind those qualities with which the image of the 

 bird is associated. His appropriate habitations are the ruined 

 tower, the ancient belfry, or the hollow of an old tree. In 

 all such places the figure of the owl is deeply suggestive of 

 those fancies which are awakened by the sight of ancient 



