CLASS II. AVES: ORDER 1. RAPTORES. 73 



while on a foraging excursion of this kind, was kept about the house for several days, and at 

 length disappeared, no one knew how. Almost every day after this, hens and chickens also dis- 

 appeared, one by one, in an unaccountable manner, till, in eight or ten days, very few were left 

 remaining. The fox, the mink, and the weasel, were alternately the reputed authors of this mis- 

 chief, until one morning, the old lady herself, rising before day to bake, in passing toward the 

 oven, surprised her late prisoner, the owl, regaling himself on the body of a newly-killed hen ! 

 The thief instantly made for his hole under the house, from whence the enraged matron soon dis- 

 lodged him with the brush-handle, and without mercy dispatched him. In this snug retreat 

 were found the greater part of the feathers, and many large fragments, of her whole family of 

 chickens. 



"There is something in the cnaractcr of the owl so recluse, solitary, and mysterious; some- 

 thing so discordant in the tones of its voice, heard only amid the silence and gloom of night, and 

 in the most lonely and sequestered situations, as to have strongly impressed the minds of man- 

 kind in general with sensations of awe and abhorrence of the whole tribe. The poets have in- 

 dulged freely in this general prejudice, and in their descriptions and delineations of midnight 

 storms, and gloomy scenes of nature, the owl is generally introduced to heighten the horror of 

 the picture. Ignorance and superstition, in all ages and in all countries, listen to the voice of the 

 owl, and even contemplate its physiognomy with feelings of disgust, and a kind of fearful awe. 

 The priests or conjurers, among some of our Indian nations, have taken advantage of the rever- 

 ential horror for this bird, and have adopted the Great Horned Owl^ the subject of the present ac- 

 count, as the symbol or emblem of their office. 



" Nothing is a more effectual cure for superstition than a knowledge of the general laws and 

 productions of nature ; nor more forcibly leads our reflections to the first, great, self-existent Cause 

 of all, to whom our reverential awe is then humbly devoted, and not to any of his dependent crea- 

 tures. With all the gloomy habits and ungracious tones of the owl, there is nothing in this bird 

 supernatural or mysterious, or more than that of a simple bird of prey, formed for feeding by 

 night and reposing by day." 



Mr. Cassin regards the following as varieties of the preceding, or very closely allied species : 

 B. Atlanticus, B. Paclficus^ B. Arctkus, B. Mac/ellanicus. 



The Eastern IIorned Owl, B. Orientalis, is found in Java -and Sumatra. 



Genus SCOPS : Scojjs. — The birds of this genus are marked with horns or ears, and resemble 

 the preceding, but are much smaller ; the European Scops-eared Owl, S. Europoeus — Petit- 

 Due of the French — is of the size of a thrush, its colors being ash and fawn, beautifully mottled 

 with black, gray, and white. It is common in Central and Southern Europe, and feeds on insects 

 and small quadrupeds. It is capable of domestication, and becomes very familiar. It is migra- 

 tory, arriving in Europe in the spring and departing in September ; it spends the winter in Africa 

 and Asia. 



The ScREECH-OwL, Red Owl, Mottled Owl, S.. asio, is one of the most common species in 

 the United States, and inhabits the whole of North America; its head is proportionally large; 

 the ear-tufts prominent ; the plumage above ashy-brown, the feathers lined with dark brown ; 

 under parts ash-white, lined with brownish-black ; the length nine or ten inches. The solemn 

 stare of this bird contrasts ludicrously with its small size. Wilson says: "This nocturnal wan- 

 derer is well known by its common name, the Little Screech- Owl^ and noted for its melancholy, 

 quivering kind of wailing in the evenings, particularly toward the latter part of summer and au- 

 tumn, near the farm-house. On clear moonlight nights, they answer each other from various 

 parts of the fields or orchard ; roost during the day in thick evergreens, such as cedar, pine, or 

 juniper trees, and are rarely seen abroad in sunshine. In May they construct their nest in the 

 hollow of a tree, often in the orchard in an old apple-tree ; the nest is composed of some hay and 

 a few feathers ; the eggs are four, pure white, and nearly round. The young are at first covered 

 with a whitish down. 



" I kept one of this species for several weeks in the room beside me. It was caught in a barn, 

 where it had taken up its lodging, probably for the greater convenience of mousing ; and, being 

 unhurt, I had an opportunity of remarking its manners. At first it struck itself so forcibly against 



Vol. 11—10. 



