OWLS. 



STORY OF pel's OWL. 



Much interest is taken in this class of birds, and great 

 is the mystery and superstition supposed to surround 

 it, especially by the most ignorant and untaught of 

 every nation. This arises generally from the fact that 

 owls roam about at night in search of food, their eyesight 

 being peculiarly adapted to enable them to see in the 

 gloom or twilight, and the structure of the wings being 

 such that they can fly unheard. The noiseless flight, the 

 large and glaring eyes, the hollow and dismal voice, heard 

 in the still darkness of night in woods or in old untenanted 

 castles or buildings, all tend to encourage and heighten 

 the idea of supernatural agencies (the bird being often 

 regarded as a ghost or a spirit of darkness), which idea once 

 possessed is rarely if ever dispelled. The stoutest heart 

 might quail if startled by a combination of these circum- 

 stances, a.nd have a grave suspicion aroused as to the 

 true nature of these apparently unearthly midnight dis- 

 turbers,. No class of animals can furnish a more abundant 

 crop of wild stories and frightful midnight alarms than 

 the owls. As an instance of the former we cannot do 

 better than give an extract from the Ihis, referring to 

 Pel's owl (Scotopelia peli), vol. i. 1869, p. 447, which is 

 as folloH^s : — 



303 



