476 



of 



tail are black ; but each feather on these 

 parts is distinctly edged with hoary gray. 

 The breast, fore part of the neck, and throat 

 are of a snowy white, and the black and 



white on the belly are separated by a rusty 

 brown. The legs are short and strong ; the 

 claws curved ; and the toes are distinctly 

 parted, without any membrane between to 

 join them. It forms its nest in the holes of 

 banks ; and lays five eggs of a whitish colour, 

 slightly tinged with red. " The most sin- 

 gular trait in its character," observes Bewick, 

 " ia that of its possessing the power of walk- 

 ing, in quest of its prey , on the pebbly bottom 

 of a river, and with the same ease as on dry 

 land." Upon this " trait " we find Mr. Wa- 

 terton thus commenting : " This is the bird 

 whose supposed sub-aquatic pranks have set 

 the laws of gravity at defiance, by breaking 

 through the general mandate which has or- 

 dained that things lighter than water shall 

 rise towards its surface, and that things that 

 are heavier shall sink beneath it." " If the 

 "Water-Ouzel, which is specifically lighter 

 than water, can manage, by some inherent 

 power, to walk on the ground at the bottom 

 of a rivulet, then there is great reason to 

 hope that we, who are heavier than air, may, 

 any day, rise up into it, unassisted by artifi- 

 cial apparatus, such as wings, gas, steam, or 

 broom-staff." 



OVTS. [See SHEEP.] 



OVUL A. A genus of Mollusca, inhabiting 

 the Indian and Chinese seas. Shell oblong, 

 with elongated aperture, the ends of which 

 in some species are so much lengthened as to 

 make it fusiform or spindle-shaped ; outer 

 lip crenulated, inner lip smooth. The ani- 

 mal is furnished with two teutacula, having 

 eyes at the base on small projections, like tie 

 Cyprcea ; mantle and foot large ; the former 

 however, having only one lobe. 



OWL. (Strigidce.) It is a common remark, 

 that Owls may be considered as a kind of 

 nocturnal hawks, differing, as Linnaeus has 

 observed, from those birds in the same man- 

 ner as Moths differ from Butterflies; the one 

 being chiefly nocturnal, and the other di- 

 urnal. They are distinguished by having 

 a large head ; great projecting eyes directed 

 forwards, and surrounded with a circle or 

 disc of loose and delicate feathers, covering 

 the base of the beak and the opening of the 



ear ; a strong hooked bill ; crooked claws ; 

 and a downy plumage, generally spotted or 

 barred with different shades of brown or 

 yellow. The feet are chiefly remarkable for 

 the power possessed by the external toe, of 

 being turned either backwards or forwards. 

 Unable to bear the brighter light of the sun, 

 the Owl retires to some lonely retreat, where 

 it passes the day in silence and obscurity ; 

 but at the approach of evening, when all 

 nature is desirous of repose, and the smaller 

 animals, which are its principal food, are 

 seeking their nestling places, the Owl comes 

 forth from its lurking holes in quest of prey. 

 Its eyes are admirably adapted for this 

 purpose, being so formed as to distinguish 

 objects with greater facility in the dusk than 

 in broad daylight. Its flight is low and 

 silent during its noctunial excursions, und 

 when it rests, it is then only known by the 

 frightful and reiterated cries with 'which it 

 interrupts the silence of night. If forced 

 from his retreat during the day, his flight is 

 broken and interrupted, and he is sometimes 

 attended by numbers of small birds, who. 

 seeing his embarrassment, pursue him with 

 incessant cries, tormenting him with their 

 movements ; while the Owl remains perched 

 upon the branch of a tree, and regards the 

 assembled group with all the appearance of 

 mockery and affectation. There are some 

 species of Owls, however, able to fly, and see 

 distinctly in open day. And we may remark 

 further, that although the Strigidce are daz- 

 zled by too refulgent a light, they do not, as 

 some have imagined, see best in the darkest 

 nighis. Their vision, generally speaking, is 

 clearest in the dusk of the evening, at the 

 dawning of the morning, or by moonlight, 

 when they are not incommoded either by 

 too much or too little light : their faculty of 

 nocturnal vision differing considerably, how- 

 ever, in different species ; some seeing with 

 exquisite acuteness in the gloom of night, 

 while others in variably roam abroad at early 

 morn or in the shades of evening. Their 

 hearing is very acute, and their plumage 

 soft and loose, enabling them to fly without 

 noise, and thus to come on their prey in an 

 unexpected manner. They feed on small 

 birds, mice, bats, and moths, swallowing 

 them entire, and casting up the indigestible 

 parts in the form of small balls. They breed 

 in fissures of rocks, in old buildings, or in 

 holes of trees, the female laying from two 

 to six eggs ; and they are found in every 

 part of the globe. 



Mr. Hewitson, in his ' Illustrations of the 

 Eggs of Birds,' remarks that there is a strong 

 and perfect similarity amongst the eggs of 

 the different species of Owls which we could 

 scarcely expect to find in the eggs of birds 

 which differ from each other so much in their 

 mode of breeding. The eggs of those species 

 which are deposited in the hollows of old 

 trees, and deserted ruins, and those which 

 are found on the bare sod, and exposed to 

 the broad light of day and the pelting storm, 

 are alike without colour. 



The Owl family is very numerous, and 

 may be subdivided into the three follow- 

 ing groups: !. The Typical Owls (whose 

 adaptation to nocturnal habits is most com- 



