70 Gleanings from the 



ritual, which have now, marvelloufly enough, died 

 out, although thofe birds which man's appetite 

 lays wafte increafe. One Hylas wrote very fldl- 

 fully concerning omens, and tells that the owl, 

 with feveral other predatory birds, comes out tail 

 firft from the egg, inafmuch as the eggs are 

 weighed down by the heavy heads of the chicks, 

 and confequently prefent the tails of thefe birds to 

 the cherifhing influence of the mother's body. 



" Crafty is the mode in which owls fight other 

 birds. When furrounded by a great number, they 

 fling themfelves on their backs, and fight with 

 beak and claws, their bodies being clofely con- 

 tracted, and thus protected on all fides. The 

 kite will help them, from a natural kinfhip in 

 robbery, and mares the combat. Nigidius fays 

 that owls fleep for fixty days during winter, and 

 have nine different cries." 1 



It is fmall wonder that if thefe were the kind 

 of popular beliefs at Rome the unlucky owl ob- 

 tained an ill-character in Latin, and tranfmitted 

 the evil heritage to the Romance languages. 

 Virgil, with his ftrong poetic feeling, introduces 

 the bird fitly enough among the portents which 

 prefaged the death of Dido, when abandoned by 

 jEneas. " The lonely owl would frequently 

 lament in funereal {trains from the houfe-tops, 

 and prolong her cries into a wail of woe" ("^neid," 

 iv. 462). Again, the fame poet mews the triumph 

 of good over evil when the return of fettled fine 

 weather difcomforts the owl's melancholy prog- 



1 Pliny, x. 16-19. 



