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Ereatfurjj at Natural ^ 



goblins in the minds of others, is extremely 

 agreeable to the ear that is fond of nature's 

 sylvan sounds." The same writer tells us 

 that " the Tawny Owl usually lays its eggs 

 in a hollow tree, sometimes in the holes of 

 rocks, and occasionally in the deserted nest 

 of some other bird ; they are round, large, 

 bright, and glossy, from three to five in 

 number, and are deposited at irregular in- 

 tervals, the first being sat upon as soon as 

 laid : the young of the same nest differ in 

 consequence very considerably in their size." 



The GREAT HORNED OWL. (Bubo Vir- 

 f/ininnns.) The Great Horned or Eagle Owl 

 is but little inferior in size to the Golden 

 Eagle ; and is very destructive to young 

 fawns, hares, rabbits, rats, moles, reptiles, 

 partridges, grouse, and other game. It is 

 found in the mountainous parts of Central 

 Europe, and in almost every quarter of the 

 United States ; frequenting deep forest glens, 

 and making its nest in the fissures of rocks, 

 ruined castles, &c. ; but in Britain it has 

 been very rarely seen. " Along the moun- 

 tainous shores of the Ohio, and amidst the 

 deep forests of Indiana," says Wilson, " this 

 ghostly watchman has frequently warned 

 me of the approach of morning, and amused 

 me with his singular exclamations, some- 

 times sweeping down and around my fire, 

 uttering a loud and sudden Waugh ! 

 Waugh O! sufficient to have alarmed a 

 whole garrison. He has other nocturnal 

 solos, no less melodious, one of which very 

 strikingly resembles the half-suppressed 

 screams of a person suffocating, or throttled, 

 and cannot fail of being exceedingly enter- 

 taining to a lonely benighted traveller, in 

 the midst of an Indian wilderness ! " " There 



is something in the character of the Owl BO 

 recluse, solitary, and mysterious, something 

 so discordant in the tones of its voice, heard 

 only amid the silence and gloom of night, 

 and in the most lonely and sequestered 

 situations, as to have strongly impressed the 

 minds of mankind in general with sensa- 

 tions of awe and abhoirence of the whole 

 tribe. The poets have indulged freely in 

 this general prejudice ; and in their descrip- 

 tions and delineations of midnight storms 

 and gloomy scenes of nature, the Owl is 

 generally introduced to heighten the horror 

 of the picture. Ignorance and superstition, 

 in all ages and in all countries, listen to the 



voice of the Owl, and even contemplate its 

 physiognomy, with feelings of disgust and a 

 kind of fearful awe." " Nothing is a more 

 effectual cure for superstition than a know- 

 ledge of the general laws and productions of 

 nature ; nor more forcibly leads our re- 

 flections to the first, great, self-existent CAUSE 

 of all, to whom our reverential awe is then 

 humbly devoted, and not to any of his de- 

 pendent creatures. With all the gloomy 

 habits and ungracious tones of the Owl, there 

 is nothing in this bird supernatural or mys- 

 terious, or more than that of a simple bird 

 of prey, formed for feeding by night, like 

 many other animals, and of reposing by day. 

 The harshness of its voice, occasioned by the 

 width and capacity of its throat, may be in- 

 tended by Heaven as an alarm and warning 

 to the birds and animals on which it preys 

 to secure itself from danger. The voices of 

 all carnivorous birds and animals are also 

 observed to be harsh and hideous, probably 

 for this very purpose." Its general colour 

 is ferruginous, varied with larger and smaller 

 spots and markings of brown, black, and 

 gray ; together with innumerable minute 

 specks. The larger wing and tail-feathers 

 are obscurely varied by dusky transverse 

 bars : the bill is black ; the eyes very large, 

 and of a golden-orange colour : the legs are 

 short and strong, thickly clothed down to 

 the very claws with fine downy plumes ; and 

 the claws are extremely large, strong, and 

 black. It rarely lays more than two eggs, 

 which are larger and rounder than those of 

 a hen, and of a reddish-brown colour, with 

 darker blotches and variegations. 



The GREAT Sxowr OWL. (Surnia nyctea.') 

 This is one of the most beautiful of all the 

 species, on account of its snowy whiteness ; 

 and in size it nearly equals the Eagle Owl, 

 which it also resembles in its general habits. 

 It is one of the hardiest of all birds, and is 



found in very high northern latitudes of both 

 the Old and New World ; obtaining its food 

 and rearing its young among rocky moun- 

 tains and islands, in spite of all the vicissi- 

 tudes of temperature and season. The bill 

 is hooked, like a hawk's, with stiff feathers 

 like hairs round its base, reflected forward ; 

 and bright yellow irides. The head, whole 

 body, wings, and tail, are of a pure white : 



