360 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



dilapidated buildings, crumbling walls, and old houses sup- 

 posed to be the residence of wicked spirits which are permit- 

 ted to visit the earth. 



It is on account of these dreary and poetic associations that 

 the owl is so truly picturesque. He is often seen, in paint- 

 ings and engravings, perched on an old gateway, or on one 

 of the bars of an old fence, whose posts, leaning obliquely, 

 show that they have been heaved by the frosts of many win- 

 ters. In certain situations our slumbers are sometimes dis- 

 turbed by the peculiar hooting of this bird, that awakens in 

 the mind the gloomy horrors of midnight. His nocturnal 

 and solitary habits, the unearthly tones and modulation of his 

 voice, his habit of frequenting rude and desolate places and 

 haunted houses, have caused his image to be intimately con- 

 nected with mystery and gloomy forebodings of evil. The 

 very stillness of his flight yields a sort of mysterious charac- 

 ter to the bird : all these circumstances combined with his 

 fabled reputation for wisdom, and his demure and solemn 

 expression of countenance, have conspired to render the owl 

 one of the most picturesque of all living creatures. 



The bat is another creature, in some respects, of similar 

 habits and reputation. Like the owl, it naturally seeks for 

 its retreat during the day those unfrequented places where it 

 is not liable to be disturbed, and has acquired a character and 

 expression in harmony with the scenes it frequents. But it 

 is remarkable that while the owl has obtained an emblemat- 

 ical character for wisdom, the bat is regarded as the emblem 

 of guilt. He is represented as shunning the broad eye of 

 day, and as flying out on leathern wing, after the dusky 

 shades of evening may serve to hide him from detection. 

 The sight of the bat, however, is far from awakening in our 

 minds the idea of guilt : but his image is strongly sugges- 

 tive of the pleasant serenity of evening, as the butterfly re- 

 minds us of summer fields and flowers. Our ideas of the bat 

 are somewhat grotesque : and when, after the graceful swal- 

 low has retired to rest, we observe his irregular and zig-zag 

 flight, we are unavoidably reminded of his peculiar hideous 

 formation, from which the idea of making him an emblem of 



