I 



THE OWL — THE GREAT-EARED OWL. 233 



What silence, what stillness, at once was impressed ! 

 Even zephyr scarce wav'd the green trees' leafy vest. 



The Falcon then thus: " It hath pleased the king, 

 This assembly to-day in his presence to bring ; 

 And wishing sincerely to all much delight. 

 We now to such sports as are pleasing invite." 



night, preying on small birds, mice, and bats; sight, by day, 

 weak, when the eyes are generally closed ; at such times they 

 make short low flights, and may be, without much difficulty, 

 hunted down. At such time, too, the owl is often attacked and 

 insulted by birds which would not dare, at other times, to ap- 

 proach him. All the species are not distinguished by this sensi- 

 bility to light, some of them pursuing their prey daring the 

 day-time. 



Owls do, however, for the most part, conceal themselves in 

 some dark retreat during the day ; the cavern, the rock, the 

 cavity of a decayed tree, or the holes of a ruinous and unfre- 

 quented castle, are their solitary abode, where 



" They hoot from the hollow of their hallowed thrones," 



and by their harsh notes render the darkness and silence of the 

 night truly hideous and appalling. The weak and superstitious 

 have often foolishly imagined the noise of the screech owl a 

 presage of some great calamity ; but the good sense of mankind 

 is rapidly dispelling such idle fancies. Owls are^ beyond 

 question, a very useful tribe of birds. The following are the 

 chief: 



The Bubu^ Great-Owl, Great-eared Owl, Eagle-Owl, 

 Great-horned Owl, has a tawny body ; in other varieties darker, 

 with blackish wings. The head is large ; the cavities of the 

 ears large and deep ; on each side of the head are two tufts of 

 feathers, resembling horns, two inches and a half long, which 

 the animal can erect or fold down at pleasure j breadth of the 



