THE OWL FAMILIES. 239 



Arid jet, 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. 1 ' 



Henry VI., Part iii., Act v., Sc. 4. 



"For Night-Owls shriek, where mounting Larks should sing." 



Richard II., Act iii., Sc. 3. 



Should an Owl appear at a birth, it is said to forebode ill-luck to the infant. King Henry VI., 

 addressing Gloster, says : 



"The Owl shrieked at thy birth, an evil sign." 



Henry VI., Part iii., Act v., Sc. 6. 



While upon any otLer occasion, its presence was supposed to predict a death, or at least some dire 

 mishap : 



"The Screech Owl, screeching loud, 

 Puts the wretch that lies in woe 

 In remembrance of a shroud." 



Midsummer Night's Dream, Act v., Sc. 2. 



When Richard III. is irritated by the ill-news showered thick upon him, he interrupts the third 

 messenger with 



" Out on ye, Owls ! Nothing but songs of death ? " 



Micharcl III., Act iv., Sc. 4. 



The same author, from whom the above Shaksperian illustrations are quoted, alludes further to 

 the superstitious dread of the Owl, which exists likewise amongst the Dyaks of Borneo, and in Ceylon 

 a Wood-Owl, belonging to the same genus Syr mum, to which the English Wood-Owl belongs, is 

 known as the " Devil-bird," and is held in great fear. Colonel Irby, writing of the Barn-Owl,* tells 

 the following story from the MS. of the late Mr. Favier, of Tangier : " The inhabitants of Tangier 

 consider this bird the clairvoyant friend of the Devil. The Jews believe that their cry causes the 

 death of young children ; so in order to prevent this, they pour a vessel of water out into the 

 courtyard every time that they hear the cry of one of these Owls passing over their house. The 

 Arabs believe even more than the Jews, for they think that they can cause all kinds of evil to old as 

 well as young ; but their mode of action is even more simple than that of their antagonists the Jews, 

 as they rest contented with cursing them whenever they hear their cry. Endeavouring to find out 

 from the Mahometans what foundation there is for the evil reputation of this species, I was told this : 

 ' When these birds ciy they are only cursing in their own language ; but their malediction is 

 harmless unless they know the name of the individual to whom they wish evil, or unless they have the 

 malignity to point out that person when passing him ; as the Devil sleeps but little, when there is evil 

 work to be done he would infallibly execute the command of his favourite if one did not, by cursing 

 the Owl by name, thus guard against the power of that enemy, who is sworn to do evil to all living 

 beings.' Having learned the belief of the Mahometans relative to this Owl, it was more difficult to 

 find out exactly that of the Jews, who, when questioned by me, knew not how to answer, except that 

 the act of pouring water in the middle of the courtyard is a custom of long standing, in order to avert 

 the evil which the Owl is capable of doing ; that is to say, the water is poured out with the view of 

 attracting the evil spirit's attention to an object which distracts him, and so hides from him the infant 

 which the Owl in its wickedness wishes to show him." 



The late Mr. Waterton, in an entertaining essay on the habits of the Barn-Owl, says : " Among 

 the numberless verses which might be quoted against the family of the Owl, I think I oaly know of 

 one little ode which expresses any pity for it : 



4 Once I was a Monarch's daughter, 



And sat on a lady's knee ; 

 But am now a nightly rover, 

 Banish'd to the ivy tree. 



* " Ornithology of the Strait of Gibraltar," &c., p. 56. 



