THE BEOWN OWL. 



311 



baffled iu a very curious manner. When the turkey happens to be 

 roused by the rush of the winged foe, it instinctively ducks its head 

 and spreads its tail flatly over its back. The Owl, impinging upon 

 the slippery plane of stift* tail feathers, finds no hold for its claws, and 

 glides off the back of its intended victim, which immediately dives 

 into the brushwood before the Owl can recover from the surprise of its 

 unexpected failure. 



The flight of this bird is remarkably powerful, easy, and graceful, 

 as may be gathered from the enormous expanse of wing in comparison 

 with the weight and dimensions of the body. 

 Its voice is of a hollow and weird-like character, 

 and when heard by night from some spot on 

 which the Owl has silently settled is apt to 

 cause many a manly cheek to pale. As Wil- 

 son well observes, the loud and sudden cry of 

 "Waugh O! Waugh O!" is sufficient to alarm 

 a whole garrison of soldiers. Probably on ac- 

 count of the peculiar sounds which are uttered 

 by this bird, the Cree Indians know it by the 

 name of Ottoumck-oho. 



The Virginian Horned Owl takes up \is res- 

 idence in the deep swampy forests, where it re- 

 mains hidden during the day, and comes out at 

 night and morning, heralding its approach with 

 its loud unearthly cries, as of an unquiet, wan- 

 dering spirit. Sometimes, according to Wilson, 

 " he has other nocturnal solos, one of which very 

 strikingly resembles the half-suppressed screams 

 of a person suffocating or throttled." The Virginian Eared- 



The common Brown Owl— or Tawny Owl, ^wl {Bubo Virgmianm). 

 as it is often named — is, with the exception of the Barn Owl, one of 

 the best known of the British Owls. 



Although rather a small bird, being only about fifteen inches in total 

 length, it is possessed of a powerful pounce and an audacious spirit, and 

 when roused to anger or urged by despair is a remarkably unchancy 

 antagonist. 



The food of this Owl is of a very varied nature, consisting of all the 

 smaller mammalia, many reptiles, some birds, fishes when it can get 

 them, and insects. It seems to be a good fisherman, and catches its 

 finny prey by waiting on the stones that project a little above the 

 water, and adroitly snatching the fish from the stream by a rapid 

 movement of the foot. Sometimes it flies at much higher game, espe- 

 cially when it has a young family to maintain, and will then attack 

 birds and quadrupeds of very great size when compared with its own 



