RAPACIOUS BIRDS. 95 



blematic of solitude and mourning, and is classed 

 among the " doleful creatures." Thus, the afflicted 

 patriarch, bemoaning his sad and forlorn state, 

 cries, "I am a companion to owls ;" and the 

 psalmist in the day of his trouble bewails himself, 

 " I am like a pelican of the wilderness : I am like 

 an owl of the desert," Psalm cii. 6. It is striking 

 to find in these incidental allusions such clear 

 reference to the characteristic habits and tones of 

 these creatures, and to see how in all ages they 

 have been suggestive of similar ideas to the ima- 

 gination and feelings of man. 



