GREAT HORNED OWL. 63 
turnal bird. According to Frisch, who kept one of these birds 
alive, its cries varied according to circumstances ; when hungry 
it had a muling cry like Paid. I have remarked the young, 
probably, of our species utter the same low, quailing cry, while 
yet daylight, as it sat on the low branch of a tree; the sound 
of both is, at times, also not unlike that made by the Hawks or 
diurnal birds of prey. Indeed, in gloomy weather I have seen 
our species on the alert, flying about many hours before dark, 
and uttering his call of ko ko, ko ké ho. Their usual prey is 
young rabbits, squirrels, rats, mice, Quails, and small birds of 
various kinds ; and when these resources fail or diminish, they 
occasionally prowl pretty boldly around the farm-yard in quest 
of Chickens, which they seize on the roost. Indeed the Euro- 
pean Horned Owl frequently contends with the Buzzard for its 
prey, and generally comes off conqueror; blind and infuriate 
with hunger, one of these has been known to dart even upon 
a man, as if for conflict, and was killed in the encounter. My 
friend Dr. Boykin, of Milledgeville, in Georgia, assured me that 
one of our own daring nocturnal adventurers, prowling round 
his premises, saw a cat dozing on the roof of a smoke-house, 
and supposing grimalkin a more harmless, rabbit-like animal 
than appeared in the sequel, blindly snatched her up in his 
talons; but finding he had caught a Tartar, it was not long be- 
fore he allowed: puss once more to tread the ground. In 
England the same error was committed by an Eagle, who, 
after a severe conflict with a cat he had carried into the air, 
was at length brought to the ground before he could disengage 
himself from the feline grasp. 
An Owl of this species, which I have observed in a cage, 
appeared very brisk late in the morning, hissed and blew when 
approached with a stick, and dashed at it very heedlessly with 
his bill; he now and then uttered a ’£o-koh, and was pretty 
loud in his call at an earlier hour. When approached, he cir- 
cularly contracted the iris of the eyes to obtain a clearer view 
of the threatened object ; he also listened with great quickness 
to any sound which occurred near his prison, and eyed the 
flying Pigeons, which passed by at some distance, with a scruti- 
Be Se 
