THE OWL. 



57 



but little game, they continue their quest still 

 longer ; and it sometimes happens that, obey- 

 ing the dictates of appetite rather than of pru- 

 dence, they pursue so long, that broad day 

 breaks in upon them, and leaves them dazzled, 

 bewildered, and at a distance from home. 



In this distress they are obliged to take 

 shelter in the first tree or hedge that offers, 

 there to continue concealed all day, till the 

 returning darkness once more supplies them 

 with a better plan of the country. But jt too 

 often happens that, with all their precaution 

 to conceal themselves, they are spied out by 

 the other birds of the place, and are sure to 

 receive no mercy. The blackbird, the thrush, 

 the jay, the bunting, and the red-breast, all 

 come in file, and employ their little arts of in- 

 sult and abuse. The smallest, the feeblest, 

 and the most contemptible of this unfortunate 

 bird's enemies, are then the foremost to injure 

 and torment him. They increase their cries 

 and turbulence round him, flap him with their 

 wings, and are ready to show their courage to 

 be great, as they are sensible that their danger 

 is but small. The unfortunate owl, not know- 

 ing where to attack or where to fly, patiently 

 sits and suffers all their insults. Astonished 

 and dizzy, he only replies to their mockeries 

 by awkward and ridiculous gestures, by turn- 

 ing his head and rolling his eyes with an ai; 

 of stupidity. It is enough that an owl appears 

 by day to set the whole grove into a kind of 

 uproar. Either the aversion all the small birds 

 have to this animal, or the consciousness of 

 their own security, makes them pursue him 

 without ceasing, while they encourage each 

 other by their mutual cries to lend assistance 

 in this laudable undertaking. 



" Est illis strigibus nomen : sed nnmims hujus 

 Causa, quod liorrenda stridere nocte solent." 



The barn owl may be heard shrieking here perpetually 

 on the portico, and in the large sycamore trees near the 

 house. It shrieks equally when the moon shines, and 

 when the night is rough and cloudy ; and he who takes 

 an interest in it may here see the barn owl the night 

 through when there is a moon ; and he may hear it 

 shriek when perching on the trees, or when it is on wing. 

 He may see it and hear it shriek, within a few yards of 

 him, long before dark; and again, often after daybreak, 

 before it takes its final departure to its wonted resting- 

 place. I am amply repaid for the pains I have taken to 

 protect and encourage the barn owl ; it pays me a hun- 

 dredfold by the enormous quantity of mice which it des- 

 troys throughout the year. The servants now no longer 

 wish to persecute it. Often, on a fine summer's even- 

 ing, with delight I see the villagers loitering under the 

 sycamore trees longer than they would otherwise do, to 

 have a peep at the barn owl, as it leaves the ivy-mantled 

 tower: fortunate for it, if, in lieu of exposing itself to 

 danger, by mixing with the world at large, it only knew 

 the advantage of passing its nights at home; for here 



" No birds that haunt my valley free 



To slaughter I condemn ; 

 Taught by the Power that pities me, 



I learn to pity thcta." 

 VOL. II. 



It sometimes happens, however, that the 

 little birds pursue their insults with the same 

 imprudent zeal with which the owl himself 

 had pursued his depredations. They hunt 

 him the whole day until evening returns ; 

 which restoring him his faculties of sight once 

 more, he makes the foremost of his pursuers 

 pay dear for their former sport. Nor is man 

 always an unconcerned spectator here. The 

 bird-catchers have got on an art of counterfeit- 

 ing the cry of the owl exactly-^ and having 

 before limed the branches of a hedge, they sit 

 unseen, and give the call. At this, ail the 

 little birds flock to the place where they expect 

 to find their well-known enemy ; but instead of 

 finding their stupid antagonist they are stuck 

 fast to the hedge themselves. This sport must 

 be put in practice an hour before night-fall, in 

 order to be successful ; for if it is put off till 

 later, those birds which but a few minutes 

 sooner came to provoke their enemy, will then 

 fly from him with as much terror as they just 

 before showed insolence. 



It is not unpleasant to see one stupid bird 

 made, in some sort, a decoy to deceive another. 

 The great horned owl is sometimes made use 

 of for this purpose to lure the kite, when fal- 

 coners desire to catch him for the purposes of 

 training the falcon. Upon this occasion they 

 clap the tail of a fox to the great owl, to render 

 his figure extraordinary ; in which trim he 

 sails slowly along, flying low, which is his 

 usual manner. The kite, either curious to 

 observe this odd kind of animal, or perhaps in- 

 quisitive to see whether it may not be proper 

 for food, flies after, and comes nearer and 

 nearer. In this manner he continues to hover, 

 and sometimes to descend, till the falconer 

 setting a strong-winged hawk against him, 

 seizes him for the purpose of training his young 

 ones at home. 



The usual place where the great horned owl 

 breeds is in the cavern of a rock, the hollow 

 of a tree, or the turret of some ruined castle. 

 Its nest is near three feet in diameter, and 

 composed of sticks, bound together by the 

 fibrous roots of trees, and lined with leaves on 

 the inside. It lays about three eggs, which 

 are larger than those of a hen, and of a colour 

 somewhat resembling the bird itself. The 

 young ones are very voracious, and the parents 

 not less expert at satisfying the call of hunger. 

 The lesser owl of this kind never makes a nest 

 for itself, but always takes up with the old 

 nest of some other bird, which it has often 

 been forced to abandon. It lays four or five 

 eggs ; and the young are all white at first, but 

 change colour in about a fortnight. The other 

 owls in general build near the place where 

 they chiefly prey ; that which feeds upon birds, 

 in some neighbouring grove ; that which preys 

 chiefly upon mice, near some farmer's yard. 



