so 
POPULAR OUNITHOLOGT. 
lively gesticulations^ not at all accordant with the pitiful 
tone of its ditty^ which reminded one of the shivering moan- 
ings of a half-frozen puppy 
The poet Wordsworth^ in one of his ' Evening Volun- 
taries^/ thus apostrophizes the owl^ and alludes to its habits 
and history : — 
" Grave creature ! — ^Whether, while the moon shines bright 
On thy wings open'd wide for smoothest flight. 
Thou art discover' d in a roofless tower, 
Rising from what may once have been a lady's bower, 
Or spied where thou sitt'st moping in thy mew 
At the dim centre of a churchyard yew ; 
Or from a rifted crag or ivy tod 
Deep in a forest, thy secure abode, 
Thou giv'st, for pastime's sake, by shriek or shout, 
A puzzling notice of thy whereabout; — 
May the night never come, nor day be seen. 
When I shall scorn thy voice or mock thy mien ! 
In classic ages men perceived a soul 
Of sapience in thy aspect, headless Owl ! 
Thee Athens reverenced in the studious grove ; 
And, near the golden sceptre grasp'd by Jove, 
His eagle's favourite perch, while round him sate 
The Gods revolving the degrees of Fate, 
Thou, too, wert present at Minerva's side ; — 
Hark to that second larum ! far and wide 
The elements have heard, and rock and cave replied." 
One of the finest of the Owl family is the Surnia nyctea, 
* Poetical Works, vol. v. p. 270, ed. 1841. 
