The Owls. 99 



and that, too, not openly and by day, as the Falconidse, but 

 skulking along on noiseless wing in the silence and darkness 

 of night ; they are clever fellows, too : aye, and noble withal, and 

 much to be respected ; then how sagacious they are, and how 

 much they know : to be sure, if you look at one in broad day- 

 light, when the sun dazzles and confounds him, he cuts but a 

 sorry figure ; but so would a man, were his powers of vision so 

 keen and so sensitive. But observe him when the shades of 

 evening have fallen on the earth, how cunning, how thoughtful, 

 how active he seems now, yet not restless or hurried in his 

 movements, but deliberate and calm. All day long he will sit 

 in his snug dark retreat, dozing away the hours of dazzling sun- 

 shine, to him so insupportable, snoring and dreaming as owls 

 only can do ; but no sooner has the sun gone down and twilight 

 begun, than out comes the owl from its lurking-place ; gliding 

 along in silence ; hunting over the fields ; dropping on a mouse, 

 which any vision less keen would fail to discover ; bearing it off 

 to its nest ; and returning again to its hunting-ground ; and thus 

 ridding mankind of a vast number of this most destructive of 

 little four-footed vermin. Now, to enable the owls to effect this 

 in the twilight, and even the dusk of night, they are furnished 

 with several attributes peculiarly adapted to their requirements : 

 thus their powers of sight and hearing are remarkably acute, 

 as I have before observed ; and in addition to this, their plumage 

 is so soft and downy, and their wing feathers in particular so 

 pliant, that in striking the air they offer the least possible oppo- 

 sition, and move along noiselessly, with a slow, gentle and uniform 

 motion ; in which respect they differ widely from the flight of 

 other birds, the flapping of whose wings may be heard often at a 

 considerable distance. 



But though of such signal service to mankind, and though 

 enjoying such a reputation for wisdom, the poor owl is not looked 

 upon with a friendly eye ; on the contrary, it is now, and always 

 has been, regarded with superstitious feelings by the inhabitants 

 of this as well as other countries : without doubt its habits of 

 seclusion by day, its spectre-like and noiseless movements by 



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