260 REMINISCENCES OF A SPORTSMAN. 



CHAP. XXIV. 



THE OWL. — SUPERSTITIOiN'. — HIS PEET. 



" The night (I sing by night, sometimes an owl, 

 And now and then a nightingale) is dim, 

 And the loud shriek of sage Minerra's fowl 

 Rattles around me her discordant hymn." — Bteon. 



"Save that from yonder iry-mantled tower. 

 The moping owl does to the moon complain, 

 Of such as wandering near her secret bower, 

 Molest her ancient solitary reign." — Gray's Elegy. 



The brown owl is similar to the tawny in its marks, differ- 

 ing only in its colour ; in the latter the head, wings, and 

 back are of a deep brown, spotted with black, the coverts 

 of the wings and scapulars are adorned with white spots, 

 the exterior feathers of the four first quill feathers in 

 both serrated ; the breast is of a very pale ash colour, 

 mixed with tawny, and marked with oblong jagged spots; 

 the feet are feathered down to the very claws, the circle 

 round the face is also coloured, spotted with brown. 



It inhabits woods, where it resides the whole day. In 

 the night they are very clamorous, and when they hoot, 

 their throats are inflated to the size of a hen's egg. In 

 the dark they approach our dwellings, and will fre- 

 quently enter pigeon-houses and make great havoc 



