"AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 205 



Owls are the cats of the bird world. Like puss they see in the dark. 

 Like her their sense of hearing is remarkably acute. Like her they 

 approach their prey noiselessly and pounce upon it with tremendous 

 force. Like her they are armed with talons, but here the similarity 

 ends, for the talons of the owl are far more powerful than those of 

 the cat, and the owl, size considered, is much stronger than the cat. A 

 Horned Owl has been known to strike and kill a large cat without 

 suffering any injury from the encounter though the cat was far larger 

 and heavier than the bird. No doubt Tom was taken unawares. This 

 is one reason why the bird has the advantage of the mammal. Emerg- 

 ing in the darkness from the black shadows of the wood it sweeps 

 along unnoticed against the dark background of the trees. Its plumage 

 is covered with downy filaments which muffle all sound. When near 

 its prey it swiftly descends and, extending its powerful legs and claws, 

 strikes like a feathered thunderbolt. The powerful leg muscles backed 

 by the weight of the bird and the force of the plunge drive the talons 

 through the very vitals of its prey while a blow on the head from the 

 beak stuns the wretched quarry or a wrench from the powerful claws 

 breaks the neck, causing almost instant death. Few small mammals ex- 

 cept perhaps some of the weasel tribe are quick enough to escape from 

 or cope with the owl, and even these sometime fall a prey. The strength 

 of the owl's grip is tremendous and the machinery by which it is exerted 

 is worth a passing study. If you ever have an opportunity to examine 

 the legs and feet of a dead owl, note the strong recurved claws and see 

 how they close as the leg is pushed up toward the body. If you have 

 time to dissect out the mechanism that controls the motions of the leg 

 and foot, you will find a series of cords (represented by tendons,) and 

 pulleys (represented by grooves or apertures in the bones of the legs,) 

 by which the claws are expanded or closed. Not only is this effected 

 by powerful voluntary muscles, but these are reinforced by the weight 

 of the body, which, as the bird strikes, it bends the legs, draws the ten- 

 dons through the bony pulleys and accentuates the grip of steel. When 

 this grip is once fast to anything it takes a strong man to loosen it or 

 even straighten the bended legs, if the bird belongs to the larger species. 

 Lest I may be accused of drawing on my imagination for the above 

 description of the manner in which the owl strikes his prey, I will say 

 that on at least three different occasions owls have struck their talons 

 into different parts of my anatomy and in each case I had a very close 

 view of the manner of procedure, being therefore a competent but 

 unwilling witness of the operation. I have also seen an owl strike its 

 prey, but must admit that I was not so fully impressed as when I was a 

 party to the argument. The mechanism by which the closed leg causes 



