GREAT HORNED OWLi 
and the parents are vigilant in providing sub- 
sistence, which they procure in silence, and 
with much more agihty than their extreme 
corpulence would lead us to suppose. They 
often contend with the buzzards, are vidlori- 
ous in the combat, and seize the plunder. The 
liglit of day is to them less insupportable than 
to the other no(fturnal birds ; for they leave 
their haunts earlier in the evening, and later in 
the morning. The Greit-Eared Owl is some- 
times seen attacked by flocks of crows, which 
accompany his flight, and surround him by 
thousands. He withstands their onset; drowns 
their hoarse murmurs with his louder screams ; 
disperses them ; and, often, when the light 
begins to fail, seizes some fated vi6tim. 
Though his wings are shorter, than those 
of most of the birds which soar, he can rise 
to a great height, especially about twilight : 
but, at other times, he generally flies low, and 
to sliort distances. The Great-Eared Owl 
is employed in falconrv, to attradl the notice 
of tlie kite; and he is furnlslicd witli a fox's 
tail, to heighten the singularity of his hgure. 
'J 'bus equipped, he skims along the surface of 
the ground ; and alights on the plain, without 
venturing 
