16 OWLS 



the strix, the bubo, the ulula of the Romans ; the 

 kos, the kippdz, the yamshooph of the Hebrews ; 

 the hibou of the French ; the hornugle or storugle of 

 the Danes, the Swedes, and the Norwegians ; the 

 bufo or mofo of the Portuguese ; the allocco of 

 the Italians ; and, best perhaps of all, the bu-ru-ru 

 of the Arabs. 



squawks, hisses ; but it is now, I think, established 

 that he never hoots. He utters his piercing shrieks 

 chiefly when he is on the wing in the gloaming. 

 The other sounds proceed generally, I believe, from 

 the young brood of different ages while they are 

 still in the nest, or are perching on the branches hard 

 by, and when, in the owl-light, they are about to 

 make some of their earliest essays at flight. Little 

 wonder is it that country folk, hearing in the dusk 

 this uncanny medley of strange noises proceeding 

 from an ivied tower or a primeval oak or beech, 

 should hear them with something akin to awe, and 

 should regard the appearance and the cry of the 

 bird from which it comes as it has more or less, at 

 all times and places, and in every species of 

 literature, been regarded as the harbinger of 

 calamity, of disease, and of death. 



The interest attaching to the actual habits of 



