The Birds of the Assyrian Monuments and Records. 65 
stantly occurring form of conjuration or anathema in the 
tablets of Exorcism, " may the spirit of heaven conjure, may 
the spirit of earth conjure"! But the owl as a night wanderer 
symbolises the moon in Aryan mythology, and thus aids to 
dispel the terrors of night by its brightness; hence it is 
beneficient, and is called by the Sanskrit name of kdkdris, 
i.e., "the crow's enemy": this latter bird from its colour 
representing the dark night. It is curious to note that the 
idea conveyed by the word essebu, " prince," 44 king," &c, 
still exists amongst the French people as one of the names 
of the Great Eagle Owl, viz., Le Grand Due ; while the 
smaller species, the long-horned owl, Otus vulgaris, rejoices in 
the name of Le Moyen Due ; and the beautiful little Scops 
Owl (Scops Aldrovandi) is called Le Petit Due. See Littre's 
"Diet, de la Lang. Franc.," p. 1249, and the "Portraits 
d'Oyseaux." The Italians also used the same word Duco or 
Dugo for this owl. 1 The same ducal eminence appears in the 
pages of Aldrovandi under the heading " De Bubone" where 
(lib. VIII, cap. 2) in the middle of the page there occurs the 
word DIGNITAS in grand Roman characters. " What word," asks 
Broderip ("Zool. Res.;' p. 96), " can be more appropriate? 
What presence among the feathered bipeds is more dignified 
than that of the Great Horned Owl, Le Grand Due, as he is 
most appropriately named in the kingdom of Clovis ? Who 
can look at his feathered highness, as he sits solemn and 
sedate, without inquiring — 
" What doth gravity out of his bed at midnight " ? 
1 We have evidence to show that this ducal title attached to this owl as early 
as in the year 1300 ; for in the articles against Bernard Saget, recorded by 
Du Cange, we read as follows s " Aves elegerunt Regem quemdam vocatam Due, 
et est avis pulchrior et major inter omnes aves, et accidit semel quod Pica 
conquesta f uerat de Accipitre dicto Domino Regi, et congregatis avibus, dictus 
Rex nihil dixit nisi quod flavit (flevit ?). Vel (veluti) idem de rege nostro dicebat 
ipse Episcopus, qui ipse est pulchrior homo de mundo, et tamen nihil scit facere, 
nisi respicere homines." I quote the above from De Grubernatis, II, p. 245, note. 
The learned writer suggests, instead of the word " flavit " (flevit ?). I suspect 
that " flavit" is the correct reading. In addition to the ordinary hollow tone of 
this owl's voice, when angry it bristles its feathers, and emits a peculiar sound, 
difficult to describe, but which partakes of the characters of something between 
hissing and blowing. 
A modern writer thus speaks of the awe-inspiring voice of the "Grand 
Duke," as he calls this bird : " By the last fortnight in March the eagle owls 
Vol. VIII. 5 
