WHITE OR BARN OWL. LONG-EARED OWL. 23 



possession in the following manner. Having brought it to a 

 drawing-room, and explained the curious manner of its flight 

 to some friends present, a lady proposed to remove it from its 

 cage to illustrate its peculiarity ; which being done, after the 

 owl made the circle of the room, perhaps attracted by the 

 draught from the firegrate, it as noiselessly disappeared up 

 the chimney, and took to wing when emerging at the top> 

 not the least incommoded by the glare of daylight. 



The number of old ruined castles, towers, and abbeys which 

 everywhere rise to view, and form such a prominent feature 

 in our isle, offer a secure retreat to this species, and afford 

 it a concealment sufficiently remote from disturbance during 

 the day. Indeed, the presence of the owl is inseparable from 

 the mouldering pile of antiquity in every country, the same 

 dweller along the fortress-like tombs of the Roman Way, as it 

 is amidst the ruins of the Alhambra, its appearance has oc- 

 cupied the minds of each people, and obtained it a place in the 

 traditions of every land : 



" If thou would' st view Melrose aright, 

 Go view it in the pale moonlight ; 

 When the distant Tweed is heard to rave, 

 And the owl to hoot o'er the dead man's grave." 



In Norway the flesh of the owl is eaten, and is esteemed a 

 dainty, its excellency having even passed into a proverb, ' ' tender 

 as a boiled owl." The Tartars pay it divine honours, attri- 

 buting the preservation of their founder, Genghis Khan, to 

 the fact of a bird of this species settling over the place where 

 he was hiding from his pursuers ; and to a similar circumstance 

 the preservation of Mahomet was owing. 



Indigenous. 



GENUS X. OTUS (EARED OWL). 



SPECIES 21 THE LONG-EARED OWL. 



Otus vulgaris. Fleming. 

 Hibou moyen due. Temni. 



THIS common species is nearly as abundant as the barn owl 

 in its distribution ; at least, judging from the numbers sent to 

 the bird preservers, I have seen an equal number of the long- 

 eared owl. 



Of great beauty, it is the most attractive of our common 

 nocturnal raptores ; and it is only when in confinement that 

 we have an opportunity of observing the great depth of colour 

 in the rich orange irides of the bird. 



