OUR HOME BIRDS. 
255 
few feathers. Sometimes it selects a hollow tree, 
and then very few materials are taken in. There 
are four large eggs, almost round and pure white. 
In one of these nests, after the young had flown, 
were found the head and bones of two chickens, 
the legs and head of the golden-winged wood- 
pecker. and part of the wings and feathers of sev- 
eral other birds. 
“ This owl, you see, is very careful of its young. 
Once one of them gave a remarkable proof of this. 
‘ There was an owl’s nest near to a gentleman’s house, 
and one day the servants caught a young bird that 
was unable to fly, and put it in a hen-coop. The 
next day a dead partridge was found lying close by 
the coop that had been brought in the night. The 
next morning some other little animal or bird was 
found. This went on for a fortnight. The gentle- 
man and his servants watched to see who had pro- 
vided for the w T ants of the little captive, and there 
was no doubt but the parent-birds had done it.’ 
“ And now, Malcolm,” continued the governess, 
“ here is something that you may remember, if you 
like, to tell Patrick : ‘ Ignorance and superstition, in 
all ages and in all countries, listen to the voice of 
the owl, and even contemplate its physiognomy, with 
feelings of disgust and a kind of fearful awe. The 
priests or conjurors among some of our Indian na- 
