GREAT HORNED OWL. 213 



and superstitiously considered as messengers of woe. 

 This appears to be the case in the New World as 

 well as the Old, since the Americans hold the same 

 opinion. The Athenians alone among the ancients 

 seem to have been free from this popular prejudice, 

 and to have regarded the Owl with veneration 

 rather than abhorrence, considering it as the fa- 

 vorite bird of Minerva. The kind thus venerated 

 appears to have been a variety of the present spe- 

 cies, somewhat smaller than those which occur in 

 the colder parts of Europe, and of rather darker 

 colours, and is said to be common in many parts 

 of Greece. 



But, if the Greeks thus honoured the appearance 

 of the Owl, the Romans on the contrary viewed it 

 with detestation and dread : It was held consecrated 

 to Proserpine: itsappearance foreboded unfortunate 

 events, and we are assured by Pliny that even 

 , the city of Rome itself underwent a solemn lustra- 

 tion in consequence of one of these birds having 

 accidentally strayed into the Capitol. 



The generality of figures of this magnificent 

 species do but ill express the beauty of its plumage, 

 the variegations of which are such as to produce 

 an uncommonly elegant association of colours 

 in themselves obscure. One of the fmest speci- 

 mens I recollect any where to have seen was pre- 

 served in the Leverian Museum, and is represented 

 in the third number of the work entitled Museum 

 Leverianum: it is copied into the present work, 

 and is accompanied by Edwards's representation 

 of the smaller or Athenian variety. 



