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GREAT HORN OWL. 
STRIX Bubo. The body of a reddish colour . 
All birds of this kind have one common mark, by 
which they are distinguished from other birds : for their 
eyes, like those of tigers and cats, are formed for seeing 
better in the dusk than in broad glare of sun-shine. The 
pupil, in fact, is capable of great dilatation or contraction. 
By contracting it, the brighter light of the day, which 
would act too powerfully upon the sensibility of the eye, 
is excluded ; while by dilating the pupil, the animal takes 
in the more faint rays of the night, by which it is ena- 
bled to spy its prey, and catch it with greater ease in the 
dark. 
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