are necessary in their ascent under the tiles, they 

 constantly perch first on the roof of the chancel, and 

 shift the mouse from their claws to their bill, that 

 the feet may be at liberty to take hold of the plate 

 on the wall as they are rising under the eaves. 



White owls seem not (but in this I am not posi- 

 tive) to hoot at all : all that clamorous hooting ap- 

 pears to me to come from the wood kinds. The 

 white owl does indeed snore and hiss in a tremen- 

 dous manner; and these menaces will answer the 

 intention of intimidating: for I have known a whole 

 village up in arms on such an occasion, imagining 

 the church-yard to be full of goblins and spectres. 

 White owls also often scream horribly as they fly 

 along ; from this screaming probably arose the com- 

 mon people's imaginary species of screech-owl, 

 which they superstitiously think attends the win- 

 dows of dying persons. The plumage of the remiges 

 of the wings of every species of owl that I have 

 yet examined is remarkably soft and pliant. Per- 

 haps it may be necessary that the wings of these 

 birds should not make much resistance or rush- 

 ing, that they may be enabled to steal through the 

 air unheard upon a nimble and watchful quarry. 



While I am talking of owls, it may not be im- 

 proper to mention what I was told by a gentleman 

 of the county of Wilts. As they were grubbing a 

 vast hollow pollard-ash that had been the mansion of 



owls for centuries, he discovered at the bottom, a 



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