166 THE BOOK OF A NATURALIST 



from spirit-land, and prophet of death and disaster ; 

 a little sister or some other relation of the devil ; 

 and finally the devil himself ; also, as in Samoa, 

 a god incarnate. Its voice, as well as its strange 

 appearance, had doubtless much to do with the 

 owl's supernatural reputation. The owl is first, 

 but only one, of a legion of feathered demons, 

 ghosts, witches, and other unearthly beings, usually 

 nocturnal birds with cries and notes that resemble 

 the human voice expressing physical agony, 

 incurable grief, despair and frenzy, always with 

 something aerial and ventriloquial in it, heighten- 

 ing its mysterious and terrible character ; and the 

 birds that emit these sounds are of many families 

 — night- jars, herons, rails, curlews, grebes, loons, 

 and others. 



But great as the owl is among birds that have 

 been regarded as supernatural, or in league with 

 the unseen powers, it has never risen to the height 

 of the serpent in this respect : it had only its 

 strange appearance, silent flight, and weird voice ; 

 the serpent had many and more impressive qualities. 

 First and foremost is the strength and lastingness 

 of the impression produced by its strangeness, and 

 its beautiful, infinitely varied, and, to the un- 

 scientific mind, causeless motions ; its spectre-like 

 silence and subtlety ; its infinite patience and 

 watchfulness, and its power to continue with raised 

 head and neck rigid as if frozen to stone for a long 

 period ; and its wonderful quietude when lying 

 day after day in sun or shade on the same spot, as 



