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CHAPTER VIII. 



Owls. Superstitions respecting. Short-eared. The Great 

 Snowy Owl. White Owl. Mode of Feeding. Attachment 

 to Young. Used in Bird- catching. Burrowing Owl. Denti- 

 rostral. Notch-billed Birds. Shrikes. Mode of Feeding. 

 Nests of. Used in taking Falcons. Puff-backed Shrike. 

 Thrush Genus. Instinctive Habits in Feeding. Anecdote. 

 Thrush and Young Cuckoo. Fly-catchers. Cotinga. 

 Tanagers, Beauty of. Serratirostral, or Serrated Beaks. 

 Horn bills. Plenirostral. Strong-billed. Grackles. Para- 

 dise Birds. 



HHHEKE is still another family to be classed amongst the 

 -*- rapacious birds, and forming anatural link in the chain after 

 Eagles and Falcons, namely, Owls. Everybody who has once 

 examined them must have been struck with the leading points 

 of resemblance. An Owl's 

 bill is almost like a Hawk's, 

 short, hooked, and, like its 

 claws, evidently intended for 

 the purpose of seizing and 

 tearing to pieces its favourite 

 food. An Owl's eye, too, is 

 bright and clear, like a 

 Hawk's, but, by being 

 larger and more full, is 

 better calculated for the 

 twilight or midnight hours, 

 preferred for prowling 

 abroad in quest of prey. 

 The chief peculiarities of 

 the tribe consist in the 

 advantages afforded them by Owl- 



nature respecting their mode of flight, and sense of seeing and 



