ve. 
GREAT II[ORNED OWL 435 
GREAT HORNED OWL.—STRIX VIRGI*IANA. — Fic. 196. 
Arct. Zool. p. 228, No. 114.— Edw. 60.— Lath. i. 119.— Turt. Syst. p. 166.— 
Peale’s Museum, No. 410. 
BUBO VIRGINIANA. — Cuvirr.* 
Le grand Hibou d’Amerique, Cuv. Reg. Anim. i. p. 329.— Strix Vuela Bonap. 
‘Sion. p. 37.— The Great Horned Owl, Aud. Orn. Biog. i. p. 313, pl. 61, male 
and female. — Strix (Bubo) Virginiana, North. Zool. ii. p. 82. 
Turs noted and formidable Owl is found in almost every quarter of 
the United States.. His favorite residence, however, is in the dark 
* Cuvier uses the title Bubo to distinguish those species, which, as in the genus 
Otus, have the tarsi feathered, and are furnished with egrets, but have the disk sur- 
rounding the face less distinctly marked, and have a small external conch. He as- 
sumes, as the type, the Eagle Owl of Europe, but places the Virginian species, in 
his genus Otus, with the small Long-eared Owl of Britain; the Jatter has the disk 
very distinct, and the ears large, the characters of Otus ; but the American bird is 
in every way a true Budo, as defined by the great French naturalist. It is a genus 
of very extensive geographical distribution ; individuals exist in almost every lati- 
tude, and in the four quarters of the world. Their abodes are the deep and intermi- 
nable forests, their habits nocturnal, though they are not so much annoyed or slupefied 
if disturbed in the day, and much more difficult to approach, earnestly watching 
eir pursuer, 
An Eagle Owl, in my possession, remains quiet during the day, unless he is shown 
some prey, when he becomes eager to possess it, and, when it is put within his reach, 
at once clutches it, and retires to a corner to devour at leisure. During night he is 
extremely active, and sometimes keeps up an incessant bark. It is so similar to that 
of a cur, or terrier, as to annoy a large Labrador house dog, who expressed his dis- 
satisfaction by replying to him, and disturbing the inmates nightly. I at first mis- 
took the cry also for that of a dog, and, without any recollection of the Owl, sallied 
forth to destroy this disturber of our repose; and it was not until tracing the sound 
to the cage, that I became satisfied of the author of the annoyance. I have re- 
marked, that he barks more incessantly during a clear winter night than at any other 
time, and the thin air at that season makes the cry very distinctly heard to a consid- 
erable distance. This bird also shows a great antipathy to dogs, and will perceive 
one at a considerable distance, nor is it possible to distract his attention so long as 
the animal remains in sight. When first perceived, the feathers are raised, and the 
wings lowered, as when feeding, and the head moved round, following the object 
while in sight; if food is thrown, it will be struck with the foot, and held, but no 
further attention paid to it. 
The Virginian Owl seems to be very extensively distributed over America, is 
tolerably common over every part of the continent, and Mr. Swainson has seen 
specimens from the table-land of Mexico. The southern specimens present only a 
brighter coloring in the rufous parts of the plumage. 
ccording to all authorities, Owls have been regarded as objects of superstition ; 
and this has sometimes been taken advantage of by the well informed, for_ purposes 
far from what ought to be the duty of a better education to inculeate. None are 
more accessible to such superstitions than the primitive natives of Ireland, and the 
north of Scotland. Dr. Richardson thus relates an instance, which came to his own 
knowledge, of the consequences arising from a visit of this nocturnal wanderer. 
“A party of Scottish Highlanders, in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company, 
happened, in a winter journey, to encamp after nightfall in a dense clump of trees, 
whose dark tops and lofty stems, the growth of more than one century, geve a 
solemnity to the scene that strongly tended to excite the superstitious feelings of tte 
Highlanders. The effect was heightened by the discovery of a tomb, which, witha 
natural taste often exhibited by the Indians, had been placed in this secluded spot. 
