170 EXTRACTS FROM NOTE-BOOKS. CH. XXXI. 



quickly and silently round the corner of the hedge 

 or stack (like Death, tacito clam venit ilia pede), 

 and the first intimation which the mouse has of its 

 danger is being clasped in the talons of its devourer. 



The owls of this country are far more serviceable 

 to us than we imagine, destroying countless mice 

 and rats. It must be admitted, however, that both 

 the long-eared owl and the common brown owl 

 will, during the time that they have young ones to 

 feed, destroy and carry off pigeons, young game, 

 and other birds, with a determined savageness equal 

 to that evinced by any of the hawk tribe. 



The rough and strong feet of the osprey are 

 perfectly adapted to the use which they are put to, 

 that is, catching and holding the slippery and strong 

 sea-trout or grilse. The fact of a bird darting 

 down from a height in the air, and securing a fish 

 in deep water, seems almost incredible, especially 

 when we consider the rapidity with which a fish, and 

 particularly a sea-trout, darts away at the slightest 

 shadow of danger, and also when we consider that 

 the bird who catches it is not even able to swim, 

 but must secure its prey by one single dash made 

 from a height of perhaps fifty feet. 



The swiftest little creature in the whole sea is 

 the sand-eel ; and yet the terns catch thousands of 

 these fish in the same way as the osprey catches the 



