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THE BARRED OWL 



S TRIX NEB UL OS A, Ll N N, 

 PLATE X1>VI. Male. 



Should you, kind reader, find it convenient or agreeable to visit the 

 noble forests existing in the lower parts of the State of Louisiana, about 

 the middle of October, when nature, on the eve of preparing for ap- 

 proaching night, permits useful dews to fall and rest on every plant, 

 with the view of reviving its leaves, its fruits, or its lingering blossoms, 

 ere the return of mom ; when every night-insect rises on buzzing wings 

 from the ground, and the fire-fly, amidst thousands of other species, ap- 

 pears as if purposely to guide their motions through the sombre atmo- 

 sphere ; at the moment when numerous reptiles and quadrupeds commence 

 their nocturnal prowlings, and the fair moon, empress of the night, rises 

 peacefully on the distant horizon, shooting her silvery rays over the 

 heavens and the earth, and, like a watchful guardian, moving slowly and 

 majestically along; when the husbandman, just returned to his home, 

 after the labours of the day, is receiving the cheering gratulations of his 

 family, and the wholesome repast is about to be spread out for master 

 and servants ahke ; — it is at this moment, kind reader, that were you, as ,/^ 

 I have said, to visit that happy country, your ear would suddenly be 

 struck by the discordant screams of the Barred Owl. Its whah, xchah, ] 

 ' whah, whah-aa is uttered loudly, and in so strange and ludicrous a man- 

 ner, that I should not be surprised were you, kind reader, when you and 

 I meet, to compare these sounds to the affected bursts of laughter which 

 you may have heard from some of the fashionable members of our own 

 ' species. • "^ — — ' 



/ How often, when snugly settled under the boughs of my temporary 

 encampment, and preparing to roast a venison steak or the body of a 

 squirrel, on a wooden spit, have I been saluted with the exulting bursts 

 of this nightly disturber of the peace, that, had it not been for him, 

 would have prevailed around me, as well as in my lonely retreat ! How 

 often have I seen this nocturnal marauder alight within a few yards of 

 me, exposing his whole body to the glare of my fire, and eye me in such 

 a curious manner tliat, had it been reasonable to do so, I would gladly 



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