374 



NEW ENGLAND FARilER. 



Aug. 



For the New England Farmer. 



PORTRAITS FROM THE FIELD AND 

 FARM-YARD. 



BY WILSON FLAGG. 

 THE OWL. 



In mj' portraits from the field and farm-yard I 



tion upon an enemy who selects the hour when oth- 

 er bu-ds are sleeping, to attack and devour them. 

 It is probable that while sitting upon the branch of 

 a tree or on a fence, after having been driven from 

 his hiding place, he has formed a subject for paint- 

 ers, who have always delighted to introduce him 

 into their pictures, to add expression to a desolate 



must not omit the Owl, which is one of the most scene — an old deserted house, a ruined tower or an 



remarkable of the feathered race, and in one way 

 or another familiar to all persons. There are about 

 fifty species belonging to this tribe ; but I shall se- 

 lect for my sketch the common little brown owl, 

 (strix nffivia) which is one of the typical owls, and 

 affords a fair specimen of the race. The owl has 

 been, by naturalists, compared with the cat, to which 

 he bears a strong resemblance in his face, in the 

 capacity of his vision, and in his predatory and noc- 

 turnal habits. Like the cat, he sees most clearly 

 by twilight, or by the light of the moon, seeks his 

 prey in the night and spends the greater part of 

 the day in dozing. He has a large head, round, 



ancient belfry. Hence the owl deserves m a spe- 

 cial manner to be named among those animals 

 which are called picturesque. 



I will not enter into a speculation concerning the 

 origin of those agreeable emotions which are so of- 

 ten produced by the sight of objects that are sug- 

 gestive of ruin or desolation. Nature has bene- 

 ficially provided that many an object which is capa- 

 ble of communicating no direct pleasure to our 

 senses, shall send joy to the heart through the me- 

 dium of sentiment. The figure of the owl is close- 

 ly allied with the sentiment of ruins, and to this 

 feeling of the human soul we may trace the pleas- 



full and glaring eyes, set wide apart, and partially, ure we derive from the picture of this bird in his 

 encircled by a disk of white feathers, adding a pe-j appropriate scenery. Two doves upon the ragged 

 culiar and significant expression to his face. His branch of a tree in a wild and beautiful sylvan re- 

 hooked bill turned downwards, so as to resemble 'treat, are not more suggestive of pleasing fancies to 

 the nose in a human face, the general flatness of his the mind, than an owl sitting upon an old gate-post 



features, and his upright position, yield him a sin- 

 gularly grave and intelligent look ; and it is un- 

 doubtedly on account of these appearances, that he 



near a deserted house, 



I have often listened with peculiar pleasure to 

 the distant sounds of the wings of night birds, on a 



was selected by the ancients as the emblem of wis- summer evening in the country, while they are fly 



dom, and was consecrated to Minerva. 



After his nocturnal foragings, he rests quietly 

 during the day in some secluded retreat, where he 

 is not likely to be interrupted. His fear of dis- 

 turbance and his wish to escape the intrusion of 

 other birds has accustomed him to make his abode 

 in desolate and ruined buildings, and with these 

 solitary haunts his image is strongly associated. In 

 such places he resides during the day, and there in 

 company with his mate he builds his nest and 



ing over short distances in the woods. There is a 

 mysterious feeling excited by these sounds, that 

 seems to heighten the pleasure derived from the 

 delightful influences of the season. But these 

 emotions are nothing in intensity to the scarcely 

 perceptible sound attending the flight of the owl, as 

 he glides by in the dusk of the evening, or in the 

 dim light of a summer moon. Similar in its in- 

 fluence is the dismal voice of this bird, which is 

 heard most frequently during the latter part of 



rears his young. In thinly settled countries he se-j summer and in the autumn, when the young ones 

 lects the hollows of old trees and the clefts of are out, and use these cries for purposes of mutual 

 rocks for his nest and his retreat. All the small ' salutation and recognition. 



species of the owl, however, seem to multiply with 

 the increase of human population, living upon the 

 rats and mice that accumulate in old barns and 

 granaries. The habit of seeing the owl in these 

 desolate haunts which are supposed to be the abode 



These notes in the species which is the subject of 

 my remarks, are singularly wild and not unmusical. 

 They are far from being disagreeable to my ear, 

 though they have a cadence which is expressive of 

 dreariness and melancholy. These notes might be 



of wicked spirits, has caused many superstitions to j correctly represented on a C flute by commencing 

 be attached to his image. His voice is supposed 

 to bode misfortune, and his spectral visits are re- 

 garded as the forewarnings of death. 



The owl is remarkable for the acuteness of his 

 hearing, which enables him to distinguish the slight- 

 est sounds; and the plumage of his wings is ex- 

 tremely soft, causing him to fly with so little noise 

 as to be scarcely perceptible. Hence, while he is 

 silent in his own motions, he can perceive the least 

 motion or sound from any other object, and is able 

 to overtake his prey by coming upon it silently in 

 the darkness. The stillness of his flight is one of 

 the circumstances that adds mystery to his charac- 

 ter, and has undoubtedly contributed to render him 

 an object of superstitious dread. 



When the owl is forced from his retreat in the 

 daytime he is singularly defenceless, and is at the 

 mercy of his enemies, who seem to be aware of his 

 helpless condition. On such occasions many of the 

 smaller birds assail him and annoy him in various 

 ways, while his pm-blindness prevents him from de- 

 fending himself. This is no more tlian just retalia- 



with D in the octave, and running down by semi- 

 tones to one octave below,and constantly repeating 

 this performance, for the space of about a minute, 

 with occasional pauses and slight variations. The 

 owl does not slur the passage, and the separate 

 notes in the scale may be distinctly perceived, with 

 intervals of about a semitone. 



The owl is not usually regarded as a useful 

 bird. Perhaps the generality of the tribe deserve 

 to be considered only as mischievous birds of prey, 

 and no more deserving of mercy and protection 

 than the hawks to which they are allied. Not so 

 should we regard the little red owl, or his congener, 

 the barn owl of Europe, or any of the smaller spe- 

 cies. The red owl is very serviceable as a destroy- 

 er of vermin ; and I have no doubt that were the 

 species to be domesticated, one pair of owls would 

 keep our enclosures almost entirely clear of rats 

 and mice. The owl flies low, because his prey con- 

 sists of those small quadrupeds which are generally 

 out by twilight. It is probably on account of hia 

 low flight that he is so seldom seen when on tliB 



