244 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
ring to place his habitation in darkness, as the light 
of day offends his eyes. 
“ This bird is really a feathered and winged cat, 
and you will see the strong resemblance in this pic- 
ture of the long-eared owl. Both live principally 
upon mice, both are noiseless in their movements, 
and both have facilities for seeing in the dark.” 
“ Then it ought to be called the cat-bird,” said 
Malcolm ; “ and it looks ever so much more like a 
cat than the real cat-bird does.” 
“ The real cat-bird does not look in the least like 
a cat,” replied his governess, “ and is only so named 
because of its peculiar cry. Do you not remember 
that when we were in the w T oods Edie mistook the 
call of this bird for the cry of a deserted kitten, as 
older people have done before her? 
“ But let us return to our owls. Wilson says : 
‘ On contemplating the grave and antiquated figure 
of this night-wanderer, so destitute of everything like 
gracefulness of shape, I can scarcely refrain from 
smiling at the conceit of the ludicrous appearance 
this bird must have made had Nature bestowed on 
it the powers of song, and given it the faculty of 
warbling out sprightly airs while robed in such a 
solemn exterior. But the great God of Nature hath 
in his wisdom assigned to this class of birds a more 
unsocial and less noble, though perhaps not less use- 
