THE OWL. 
95 
to give notice ; and you would tliink some 
important event was happening among them. 
The gesticulations of the owl are as odd as 
his notes. If you go near him, he bends 
down his head, and raises the feathers round 
it in a circle, until he looks as if he had a ruff 
on. All the while he keeps rolling his head 
about, until you begin to think he will break 
his neck. He keeps his great round eyes 
fixed upon you, watching your every move- 
ment ;^ and if he suspects you are going to do 
him any mischief, he flies off a little way, and 
turns his back upon you. 
As the owl has to catch his prey in the 
night, his eyes are formed to spy it out almost 
in the dark. They are of great size, and 
placed in the midst of a circle of feathers, 
that reflect the light upon them as a reflector 
does upon a lamp. The great size of the 
pupil is, in fact, the reason why the owl is 
so bewildered in the day-time. It takes in 
too much light for him to bear ; and he is 
dazzled by it, and driven to seek refuge in 
any dark corner he can find. There he sits, 
contracting the pupils of his eyes, and shutting 
out the light with his eyelids, until the 
