204 THE OWL K I X p. 



forerunner of distress. Various and melancholy as are 

 the notes of the owl, yet it is never known to make 

 them when in search of prey, for that important pur- 

 suit is always attended with silence, as if they were 

 fearful of disturbing the little creatures they intended 

 to surprise. When they have been fortunate in sur- 

 prising their victims, they soon return to their solitar 

 abode; but if success has not crowned their endeavours, 

 they frequently continue their pursuit till the approach 

 of day, which so completely dazzles and bewilders them, 

 that they are unable to return to their gloomy retreat, 

 but take shelter in the first hedge or tree that offers to 

 conceal them from observation and sight ; there, if 

 they happen to be discovered, they are sure of being 

 attacked by a host of little foes, who seem conscious that 

 the brightness by which they are dazzled will protect 

 them, from becoming the victims of wrath ; and the 

 blackbird, the thrush, the jay, the bunting, and red- 

 breast, all employ their arts of insult and abuse to annoy 

 their unresisting enemy, who quietly submits to their 

 arrogance and spite. Some of them insult him with 

 the loudness of their cries, whilst others attack him with 

 their beak or wings, and frequently they continue to 

 torment and harrass him until the declining sun pro- 

 claims the approach of night : in that case they are 

 sure to surfer for their temerity, for with darkness all 

 the owl's faculties appear to be renewed, and he seizes 

 alternately upon the bold intruders, who pay for their 

 insolence by the forfeiture of their lives. 



The usual place where the great horned owl breeds is 

 either in the cavern of a rock, the hollow of a tree, or 

 the turret of some castle falling to decay ; the nest is 

 nearly three feet in diameter, composed of sticks bound 

 together by the fibrous roots of trees, the inside of 

 which are lined with leaves, The female seldom lays 



