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CHAPTER VIII. 
Owls. — Superstitions respecting. — Short-Eared. — The Great 
Snowy Owl. — White Owl. — Mode of Feeding. — Attachment 
to Young. — Used in Bird- catching. — Burro wing-0 wl. — Denti- 
rostral. — Notch-hilled Birds. — Shrikes. — Mode of Feeding. — 
Nests of. — Used in taking Falcons. — Puff-hacked Shrike. — 
Thrush Genus. — Instinctive Habits in Feeding. — Anecdote. — 
Thrush and Young Cuckoo. — Fly-catchers. — Cotinga. — 
Tanagers, Beauty of. — Serratirostral, or Serrated Beaks. — 
Hornbills. — Plenirostral. — Strong-Billed. — Grackles. — Para- 
dise Birds. 
T HERE is still another family to he classed amongst the 
rapacious birds, and forming a natural link in the chain after 
Eagles and Falcons, namely, Owls. Everybody who has once 
examined them must have been struck with the leading points 
of resemblance. An Owl’s 
bill is almost like a Hawk’s, 
short, hooked, and like its 
claws, evidently intended for 
the purpose of seizing and 
tearing to pieces its favourite 
food. An Owl’s eye, too, is 
bright and clear, like a 
Hawk’s, but, by being 
larger and more full, is 
better calculated for the 
twilight or midnight hours, 
preferred for prowling 
abroad in quest of prey. 
The chief peculiarities of 
the tribe consist in the 
advantages afforded them by 
nature respecting their mode 
Owl. 
of flight, and sense of seeing and 
L 
