MAY. 177 



very fine species : it is a native of nearly the whole of North 

 America, but is rarely met with here. Its voice is peculi- 

 arly loud and alarming : Wilson describes it in his usual 

 happy manner : I have myself often heard it in the forests of 

 Alabama, where in travelling through the swamps, covered 

 with gigantic- beeches and sycamores, entwined and tangled 

 by the various species of briers and vines that hang in fes- 

 toons from the trees, and amidst the evergreen bushes of the 

 hystrix fan-palm, this "ghostly watchman" lifts up his hol- 

 low voice like a sentinel challenging the intruder. Through 

 the afternoon, and especially as day wanes into evening, 

 they may be heard from all quarters of the swamps ; and in 

 the deep solitude and general silence of these gloomy recesses, 

 the cry is peculiarly startling. " Ho ! oho ! oho ! waugh 

 ho ! " is his call ; the last syllable uttered with particular 

 earnestness, and protracted for some seconds, and gradually 

 falling. The whole is given deliberately, in a loud and 

 hollow tone ; and one can scarcely be persuaded that it 

 comes from a bird. They call and answer to each other, 

 and I have made one answer my imitation of his call. But 

 it is at night that this delightful music is heard to most ad- 

 vantage : he sometimes makes a noise which Wilson justly 

 compares to the half-suppressed screams of a person throttled, 

 but I have heard this but seldom ; the first appears to be 

 his favourite song. There he goes ; as he flies, you may 

 observe how exceeding noiselessly he glides through the air : 

 all the owls have this property ; not a ruffle is to be heard : 

 this arises from the very soft nature of their feathers ; an 

 owl is almost all feathers, and they are loose and unwebbed 

 in most parts of the body, and offer little resistance to the 

 air. 



C. What do they feed on ? 



F. Small birds, field-mice, squirrels, and any animals 

 that they can master. 



i 5 



