A HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPE. 



O members of the feathered tribes have been so closely connected with 

 superstitious ideas and fears as the Owls, and none have ever been sub- 

 jects of dislike with so little cause. In the olden time the call of these 

 birds at night was considered a portent of evil, particularly if uttered near, or worse 

 still, on any habitation. Thus Casca, speaking of the omens that preceded Caesar's 

 death, says — 



" Yesterday the bird of night did sit 

 Even at noon-day upon the market-place, 

 Hooting and shrieking." 



Among the ancient Egyptians, it was customary for the Monarch to send an 

 image of the Owl to any person whose death had been decided upon, and the un- 

 fortunate individual was expected at once to become his own executioner. Any delay 

 or objection from the doomed man was considered a great disgrace, not only upon 

 himself but for all his family, and it therefore became a point of honour that the 

 Pharoah's wi-shes should be complied with at once. It is related that on one occasion 

 the victim having shown great reluctance to dispose of his own life was put to death 

 by one of his parents, and so the honour of his relative was saved. 



Many are the accounts of sickness, and even death, having followed the 

 sudden appearances of Owls in places where they were never known before, and the 

 boding cry, which the bird no doubt deemed sweetest of songs, has always been 



