LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
259 
apparently close at liandj clear^ loud, and of an un- 
earthly hollowness, “ Ho ! Waugh ho ! Waugh ho ! 
Waugh ho-o-o-o! ” It seemed like the challenge 
of a sentinel, arresting our intruding footsteps; 
and fancy, if I had been alone, might have con- 
strued it into the, warwhoop of a Seminole, pre- 
paring to take my scalp. But my companion^ to 
whom the sound was familiar, told me that it was 
the voice of an owl ; and presently the wings of 
some bird swept noiselessly by before our faces. 
Joneses rifle was instantly at his shoulder, a line 
of fire illuminated for a moment the columnar 
trunks of the solemn forest fane, and a great soft- 
feathered creature was ruffling and choking at our 
feet, in the agonies of death. It was a noble bird, 
when I came to examine it, after our darkling ex- 
cursion was over. A great round cat-like face, 
with feathery ears standing up three inches high, \ 
large staring, yellow, moony eyes,- a body nearly 
as big as that of a turkey, and plumage mottled 
and barred all over with black, orange, and white, 
showed our prize to be the Great Eagle Owl (Bubo 
Virginianm ) , _ ■ 
The crack of the rifle startled others of the same 
species from their moody meditations ; and pro- 
longed Waugh hoes ! ” sounded forth on all sides, 
the notes taken up again and again successively^ 
and repeated in the distance^ as far as the ear 
could faintly catch the strain, I found that they 
called to and answered each other; and as the 
sounds can be readily imitated, I tried the power of 
my own voice, and had the satisfaction of a prompt 
response. 
Returning by a different route homeward, we 
skirted the edge of a cypress swamp, a tract in- 
s^2 
