54 OWLS 



the king. " I will marry you, she says, if you will 

 give me the dowry which I ask." "And what 

 is that?" said the king. "She asks him," replied 

 the seer, " for twenty villages destroyed in the 

 reign of our gracious king Bahran." " And what 

 does he say to that ? " asked Bahran. " Please, 

 your Majesty, he says, that if your Majesty will 

 only reign long enough, he will easily be able to 

 give her a thousand ruined villages." The rapier- 

 thrust did its work. It touched the conscience of 

 the Persian, as the parable of the ewe lamb, and 

 the solemn " Thou art the man " of Nathan, the 

 Prophet, roused the sleeping conscience of the 

 Jewish king. Conviction was followed by repent- 

 ance ; and repentance by restitution, and a some- 

 what amended life. 



The brown or tawny owl is as widely dispersed 

 over England as the white, but being somewhat 

 more of a woodlander, and its plumage being more 

 sombre and inconspicuous, is less seen than her 

 congener less seen, but much more heard ; for 

 while the white owl's shriek is pretty well confined 

 to the early hours after dusk, the " most musical, 

 most melancholy " " tu-who-o-o " of the brown owl 

 is to be heard, when he is properly protected, 

 throughout the live-long night. His eyes are dark, 



