OWL LORE 



The owl's shriek causes an infant's death. — Arab. 



"The owl, for all his feathers, was acold." — Keats. 



The owl's cry at night betokens a change of weather. 



In China the owl is known as the "bird which calls for 

 the soul." 



In England it was once a common belief that if an owl 

 appeared at a birth it foreboded ill-luck to the infant. 



In the north, the home of the white owl, she is believed 

 to possess prophetic power superior to that of any other 

 bird. 



A Hebrides belief is that if an owl scream three times 

 over your home at night, a death will surely follow unless 

 some one calls out: "Pepper and salt for your mammy 1" 



In his Natural History, Pliny the Elder says of the 

 owl: "It is a portent of the night; and makes its presence 

 known by no kind of song, but rather by sobs and moans. 

 Accordingly, whenever it shows itself in cities, or at all by 

 daylight, it prognosticates dire misfortune." Pliny, quoting 

 another writer, says: "The owl, unlike most other birds, 

 issues from the egg back foremost ; inasmuch as one side of 

 the egg is weighed down by the great size of its head, so the 

 lighter end containing the back is presented to the fostering 

 warmth of the mother." 



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