A BIRD OF ILL OMEN. 85 



" I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise ?" 

 She replies, 



" I heard the owl scream." 

 And later on 



" The obscure bird clamour'd the live-long night." 



Macbeth, Act ii. Sc. 2. 



The awe, no doubt, with which this bird is regarded by 

 the superstitious, may be attributed in some measure to 

 the fact of its flying by night. 



" Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night, 



The time when screech-owls cry and ban-dogs howl." 

 Henry VI. Part II. Act i. Sc. 4. 



And yet, strange to say, the appearance of an owl by day 

 is by some considered equally ominous : 



" The owl by day, 

 If he arise, is mocked and wondered at." 



Henry VI. Part III. Act v. Sc. 4. 



" For night-owls shriek, where mounting larks should 

 sing." 



Richard I I. Act iii. Sc. 3. 



Should an owl appear at a birth it is said to forbode ill- 

 luck to the infant. King Henry VI., addressing Gloster, 

 says, 



