the flight of a moth, or even the ma 
THE OWL. 
i% of 
a worm, cannot escape his notice. He tm'ns 
his head in the direction from which the sound 
has come ; then his eyes dilate, he sees clearly 
what has made it ; and generally seizes and 
devours his victim. 
A subtle enemy is the owl, with his noise- 
less flight, his quick ear, and his watchful eye. 
He does not hover in the air as the kite does, 
or boldly hunt like the falcon ; he is shrouded 
in darkness, and all his movements are un- 
expected and mysterious. 
One great owl, that lives in the depths of 
the American forest, is called the horned owl, 
because of two tufts of feathers that grow, one 
on each side of his forehead, and look like 
horns. He delights in the deepest solitude of 
the forest, where the trees are the tallest, and 
most thickly matted together. His loud and 
sudden scream cannot fail lo excite a feeling 
of alarm, as it breaks the silence of night ; 
and he follows it up by a series of unearthly 
sounds, one of which is like the half suppressed 
cries of a person being strangled. 
The Indians regard him with a superstitious 
dread ; and their priests, who like everything 
G 
