146 
OWLS. 
hearing. It is evident that, in order to make a prize of mice, ! 
and other small animals, which easily hide themselves in the 
ground, or under grass or heath, great silence and clear- 
sightedness are necessary, as well as a very acute sense of 
hearing. Accordingly, the wing of an Owl is provided with 
feathers so remarkably soft and pliant, that in striking the air 
they make no resistance or rushing noise ; and the bird is 
therefore enabled to steal along silently, in a manner very 
different from many other birds, such as wild Ducks, the 
whistling of whose wings may, particularly in a still night, be 
heard at a great distance ; or even as the Plover, whose large 
soft flapping wings, at first sight, much resemble an Owl’s, 
but which produce a well-known whirring sort of sound, as 
they wheel round and round in airy circles. 
There is something so peculiar in the solemnity and i 
secluded habits of this tribe of birds, that they have in all 
ages been regarded with a degree of superstitious feeling. 
Amongst the North American Indians it is customary for the 
priest or conjuror, on their most solemn meetings, to cover 
his head with the snowy skin of the great White Northern 
Owl ; and by the ancients parts of its body were foolishly sup- 
posed to possess a sort of magical power ; for instance, they 
imagined that the heart of a Screech-Owl, laid upon the 
breast of a sleeping person, would cause him to divulge 
secrets ; or that, if carried into battle, it would inspire courage 
and avert danger. In this country, people of former days 
always considered it as a bird foreboding mischief, and it was 
customary to hunt them on Christmas -eve ; and even in later 
times superstitious persons have thought that the sudden 
appearance of an Owl, during the sickness of any member of 
the family, was a sure forerunner of death. These conceits 
wiser people have long since thrown aside ; but nevertheless 
there is something so mournful and dismal in its night- shriek, 
and such a ghostly sort of motion in its silent gliding move- 
ments, when seen glancing through the twilight, or hunting 
for food in a bright moonlight night, that we can scarcely be 
surprised at the strange opinions and prejudices of ignorant 
or superstitious people. Generally speaking, however, a more 
