146 OWLS. 



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hearing. It is evident that, in order to make a prize of mice, 

 and other small animals, which easily hide themselves in the 

 ground, or under grass or heath, great silence and clear- 

 sightedness are necessary, as well as a very acute sense of 

 hearing. Accordingly, the wing of an Owl is provided with 

 feathers so remarkably soft and pliant, that in striking the air 

 they make no resistance or rushing noise ; and the bird is 

 therefore enabled to steal along silently, in a manner very 

 different from many other birds, such as wild Ducks, the 

 whistling of whose wings may, particularly in a still night, be 

 heard at a great distance ; or even as the Plover, whose large 

 soft napping wings, at first sight, much resemble an Owl's, 

 but which produce a well-known whirring sort of sound, as 

 they wheel round and round in airy circles. 



There is something so peculiar in the solemnity and 

 secluded habits of this tribe of birds, that they have in all 

 ages been regarded with a degree of superstitious feeling. 

 Amongst the North American Indians it is customary for the 

 priest or conjuror, on their most solemn meetings, to cover 

 his head with the snowy skin of the great White Northern 

 Owl ; and by the ancients parts of its body were foolishly sup- 

 posed to possess a sort of magical power ; for instance, they 

 imagined that the heart of a Screech- Owl, laid upon the 

 breast of a sleeping person, would cause him to divulge 

 secrets ; or that, if carried into battle, it would inspire courage 

 and avert danger. In this country, people of former days 

 always considered it as a bird foreboding mischief, and it was 

 customary to hunt them on Christmas -eve ; and even in later 

 times superstitious persons have thought that the sudden 

 appearance of an Owl, during the sickness of any member of 

 the family, was a sure forerunner of death. These conceits 

 wiser people have long since thrown aside ; but nevertheless 

 there is something so mournful and dismal in its night- shriek, 

 and such a ghostly sort of motion in its silent gliding move- 

 ments, when seen glancing through the twilight, or hunting 

 for food in a bright moonlight night, that we can scarcely be 

 surprised at the strange opinions and prejudices of ignorant 

 or superstitious people. Generally speaking, however, a more 



