OWLS 



tance ; the smaller birds flew away, but ' Nero ' treated both 

 alike with sovereign contempt. He would return of his own 

 accord to the roosting-place in the piazza, and when put out 

 and confined for some days, rejected all food, and pined until 

 restored to his perch. Witli me he was as tame as any canary, 

 and, after an absence of two months, recognized my voice when 

 I went to his cage at Oatlands (Devon), appearing much pleased 

 by my taking him out for a walk on the grass. Many natives 

 from the interior told me they had not seen such a bird before, 

 but they considered him unlucky. I really think 'Nero' is 

 nearly sans any relations, and certainly devoid of all friends in 

 Western Africa. 



"Sept. 13, 1859. L. S. O'CoNNOE, St. Mark's House, Jersey." 



Now, all the laughing at the superstition of the poor 

 negro will not prove that the white population of our own 

 country are quite free from the belief in, and dread of, the 

 supernatural, and it is a great mistake to suppose that 

 education and the so-called high state of civilization is 

 a preventive of a tendency towards superstition. The 

 educated can conceal, from fear of shame, their thoughts 

 and impulses, but the uneducated and poorer classes speak 

 openly and unguardedly and without the fear of publicity; 

 thus the miserable fortune-teller is frequently exposed and 

 brought to justice. How many persons of rank and fortune 

 are daily being deluded by spirit-rappers, and other 

 swindlers of this class, yet how few have the courage to 

 come forward to admit their own folly by exposing the 

 deception of which they have been dupes ! 



But, to return to the story of Pel's owl, and in order to 

 illustrate the above facts, it is only necessary to remark 

 that a living specimen of this species was brought to 

 Europe ; its demoniacal character came with it, and, 

 strange to say, the most distressing and direst train of 

 misfortunes befell its owner, and he was reluctantly com- 

 pelled to part with the bird. By many who knew the 



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