28 
POPULAE HISTOEY OF BIRDS. 
est development, to aid their nocturnal researches after food. 
The neck is short and covered with long feathers, the head 
appearing at times as if it was inserted on the body without 
that medium ; the feathers are particularly soft and pliant, 
and furnished with a delicate down, so that when flying the 
owls scarcely make any noise, and can thus pounce unex- 
pectedly on their prey. The American ornithologist, at the 
end of his description of the Hawk Owl (a bold and active 
species, which preys by day, and even follows the fowler that 
it may carry off the game when shot), says, ^^It is worthy of 
remark, that in all owls that fly by night, the exterior edges 
and sides of the wing-quills are slightly recurved, and end 
in fine hairs or points ; by means of which the bird is en- 
abled to pass through the air with the greatest silence, — a 
provision necessary for enabling it the better to surprise its 
prey. In the hawk-owl now before us, which flies by day, 
and to whom this contrivance would be of no consequence, it 
is accordingly omitted, or at least is scarcely observable. So 
judicious, so wise and perfectly applicable, are all the dispo- 
sitions of the Creator"^. The legs are generally covered 
with feathers ; the outer toe can be directed backward or 
forward at the will of the bird, a structure which often gives 
* Wilson, American Ornithology, vol. i. p. 92. 
