niHns. 00 



prowl along tbe hedges by day, like the sparrow-hawk j and 

 sometimes with good success. 



All birds of the owl kind may be divided into two sorts ; 

 those that have horns, and those without. These horns are 

 nothing more than two or three feathers that stand upon each 

 side of the head over the ear, and give this animal a kind of 

 horned appearance. Of the horned kind is, the Great Horned 

 Owl, which at first view appears as large as an eagle. When 

 he comes to be observed more closely, however, he will be found 

 much less. His legs, body, wings, and tail, are shorter ; his 

 head much larger and thicker : his horns are composed of fea- 

 thers that rise above two inches and a half high, and which he 

 can erect or depress at pleasure : his eyes are large and trans- 

 parent, encircled with an orange-coloured iris : his ears are large 

 and deep, and it would appear that no animal was possessed 

 with a more exquisite sense of hearing : his plumage is of a red- 

 dish brown, marked on the back with black and yellow spots, 

 and yellow only upon the belly. 



Next to this is the Common Horned Owl, of a much smaller 

 size than the former, and with horns much shorter. As the 

 great owl was five feet from the tip of one wing to the other, 

 this is but three. The horns are but about an inch long, and 

 consist of six feathers, variegated with black and yellow. 



There is still a smaller kind of the horned owl, which is not 

 much larger than a blackbird j and whose horns are remarkably 

 short, being composed but of one feather, and that not above 

 half an inch high. 



To these succeeds thff tribe without horns. The howlet, 

 which is the largest of this kind, with dusky plumes and black 

 eyes ; the screech owl, of a smaller size, with blue eyes, and 

 plumage of an iron gray; the white owl, about as large as the 

 former, with yellow eyes and whitish plumage ; the great 

 BROWN OWL, less than the former, with brown plumage and a 

 brown beak ; and lastly, the little drown owl, with yellowish 

 coloured eyes, and an orange-coloured bill. To this catalogue 

 might be added others of foreign denominations, which differ but 

 iittlefrom our own, if we except then arfang, or great hudson'8 

 BAY OWL of Edwards, which is the largest of all the nocturnal tribe, 

 and as white as the snows of the country of which he is a native. 



All this tribe of animals, however they may differ in their 



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