TAWNY OWL. 147 



large, the expression grotesque, the body bulky in appear- 

 ance, the plumage soft and downy. Unlike the Falconidte, 

 which hunt for their food by day, nearly all the Owls seek 

 their prey during the twilight and probably during the 

 greater part of the night. From their nocturnal habit, the 

 singular appearance produced by the arrangement of the 

 feathers of the face, the peculiar hollow tone of voice, and 

 the additional circumstance of some of the species selecting 

 ruins or buildings in grave-yards as places of resort, for the 

 solitude there afforded, Owls have been considered by the 

 superstitious in all countries and at all times as birds of 

 darkness and ill-omen, and by some even as messengers of 

 doom. Thus Shakespear says 



' Out on ye, Owls ! nothing but songs of death ' Richard the Third. 



The eyes of Owls are large, and particularly susceptible of 

 impressions from light. If exposed to the glare of day, 

 most of the species seem to be overpowered by it, and their 

 eyes are either closed entirely or screened by an internal 

 eyelid. Their flight is easy, buoyant and noiseless. The 

 species vary greatly in size and, according to their several 

 powers, their food consists of mammals, birds, reptiles and 

 occasionally fishes ; while, chiefly among the smaller kinds, 

 twilight-flying beetles and large moths are also the object of 

 search. Owls, like the other birds-of-prey, as already men- 

 tioned, return by the mouth the indigestible parts of the 

 food swallowed in the form of elongated pellets ; these are 

 found in considerable numbers about the usual haunts of 

 the birds, and examination of them reveals the nature of 

 the food, and shews in nearly every case the great services 

 they render to man by the destruction of rats and mice.* 

 But the Owls differ from nearly all the Falconidce in their 

 feathers wanting the accessory plumule or aftershaft, and 



* The infallibility of the evidence thus afforded as to the food of Owls is as 

 complete as the way of obtaining it, by those who have the opportunity, is simple. 

 Several German naturalists have made some very precise researches on this sub- 

 ject. The following results with regard to our three commonest species of Owls 



