ONTARIO. 



ber very few are seen. In the district of Muskoka there are tracts 

 which the fire has gone through, leaving many large trees killed 

 and going to decay. These places are described by my corres- 

 pondent, Mr. Tisdall, as a perfect paradise for Woodpeckers. 

 There the large black Logcock is quite common, and the Arctic 

 Three-toed species is a constant resident. The Raven is also 

 frequently seen in that district, and during the winter I saw a 

 fine specimen of the great Cinereous Owl, which had been sent 

 down to Hamilton from one of the villages. 



The Owls are not a numerous family, but all those peculiar 

 to the eastern part of the continent have been found near 

 Hamilton, though some of them are of very rare occurrence, the 

 most recent addition to the list being the Barn Owl, strix 

 flammea, a specimen of which was shot by young Mr. Reid, 

 gardener, near the cemetery, in 1882. This harmless mouser is 

 believed to be identical with the British bird of the same name, 

 whose history is so strongly colored by superstition ; poets and 

 historians, ancient and modern, uniformly associating his name 

 with evil. In the writings of Shakespeare frequent allusion is 

 made to the Owl as a bird of ill repute; thus in connection with 

 the omens which preceded the death of Caesar, it is said that 

 " Yesterday the bird of night did sit even at noonday upon the 

 market place, hooting and shrieking." In describing the memor- 

 able midnight ride, when Thomas Graham of the farm of Shan- 

 ter, was privileged to get a glimpse of the proceedings of a social 

 science meeting of the moving spirits of the time, the poet 

 Burns implies that the bird was in the habit of keeping bad 

 company : " Kirk Allowa was drawin' nigh, whaur ghaists and 

 hoolets nichtly cry." 



In the rural districts of Scotland, where superstition still 

 lingers, the "hoolet" is regarded with aversion, and his visits 

 to the farm house are looked upon as forerunners of disaster to 

 the family. Its cry, when heard at night, is described in the 

 literature of the country as most appalling. Thus, in a song by 

 Tannahill, the fellow townsman and brother poet of Wilson, the 

 hero is entreating admission to the chamber of his lady love, 

 and in describing his uncomfortable position outside, mentions 

 among other causes that the " cry o' hoolets makes me eerie." 



o 



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