98 
THE OWL. 
mysterious, and pretend to hold communion 
with the spirits of the dead, have chosen the 
horned owl as the emblem of their oflSce. The 
young priests wear a stuffed owl upon their 
heads, as a crest ; and make it look as much 
like a living one as they can, by fixing glass 
beads in the place of eyes. 
But there is nothing really mysterious about 
the horned owl, though his habits are gloomy, 
and his voice is so discordant. Like other 
owls, he makes terrible havoc among the smaller 
animals : and, perhaps, his strange note may 
be intended by nature to warn them of his 
coming. He is as fond of tender young 
chickens as the fox is, and will sometimes fly 
a long way to loqk for them. 
It happened once that a horned owl, with 
a broken wing, was picked up and carried 
home by a farmer, who thought he would 
tame him, and make him useful in catching 
mice. 
The owl was fed, and nursed, and taken 
care of, until he got well ; and then, all 
at once, he disappeared, and no one knew 
what was become of him. What was worse, 
the farmer's hens and chickens began to dis- 
