THE OWL KIND 79 



these birus there is the same conformation of that organ, and though 

 like us, they cannot see in a total exclusion of light, yet they are suf- 

 ficiently quick-sighted at times when we remain in total obscurity. 

 In the eyes of all animals, Nature hath made a complete provision, 

 either to shut out too much light, or to admit a sufficiency, by the 

 contraction and dilatation of the pupil. In these birds the pupil is 

 capable of opening very wide, or shutting very close : by contracting 

 he pupil, the brighter light of the day, which would act too power- 

 *ully upon the sensibility of the retina, is excluded ; by dilating the 

 pupil, the animal takes in the more faint rays of the night, and there- 

 by is enabled to spy its prey, and catch it with greater facility in the 

 dark. Beside this, there is an irradiation on the back of the eye, and 

 the very iris itself has a faculty of reflecting the rays of light, so as to 

 assist vision in the gloomy places where these birds are found to fre- 

 quent. 



But though owls are dazzled by too bright a day-light, yet they do 

 not see best in the darkest nights, as some have been apt to imagine. 

 It is in the dusk of the evening, or the gray of the morning, that they 

 are best fitted for seeing, at those seasons when there is neither too 

 much light, nor too little. It is then that they issue from their re- 

 treats to hunt or to surprise their prey, which is usually attended with 

 great success : it is then that they find all other birds asleep, or pre- 

 paring for repose, and they have only to seize the most unguarded. 



The nights when the moon shines are the times of their most suc- 

 cessful plunder ; for when it is wholly dark, they are less qualified for 

 seeing and pursuing their prey : except, therefore, by moonlight, they 

 contract tne hours of their chace : and if they come out at the ap- 

 proach of dusk in the evening, they return before it is totally dark, 

 and then rise by twilight the next morning to pursue their game, and 

 to return in like manner, before the broad day-light begins to dazzle 

 them with its splendour. 



Yet the faculty of seeing in the night, or of being entirely dazzled 

 by day, is not alike in every species of these nocturnal birds : some 

 see by night better than others ; and some are so little dazzled by day 

 light, that they perceive their enemies and avoid them. The com- 

 mon White or Barn Owl, for instance, sees with such exquisite acute- 

 ness in the dark, that though the barn has been shut at night, and the 

 light thus totally excluded, yet it perceives the smallest mouse that 

 peeps from its hole : on the contrary, the Brown Horn Owl is often 

 een to prowl along the hedges by day, like the sparrow-hawk ; and 

 sometimes with good success. 



All birds of the owl kind may be divided into two sorts ; those that 

 have horns, and those without. These horns are nothing more than 

 two or three feathers that stand upon each side of the head over the 

 ear, and give this animal a kind of horned appearance. Of the horn- 

 ed kind is, the Great Horned Owl, which at first view appears as large 

 as an eagle. When he comes to be observed more closely, however, 

 he will be found much less. His legs, body, wings, and tail are shorter 

 his head much larger and thicker ; his horns are composed of feathers 

 that rise above two inches and a half high, and which he can erect 

 or depress at pleasure : his eyes are large and transparent, encircled 

 with an orange-coloured iris : his ears are large and dr.eo. and it would 



