234 
THE BEAUTIFUL LAD DEB. 
bird does not manifest a stronger sense of your 
presence. Look more carefully, and notice that 
in the centre of those great eyes there is only 
a narrow streak of brilliant, glassy black shin¬ 
ing tiirough the filmy shield that is drawn over 
them. It is observed that the stronger the light 
the greater the contraction of this dark thread. 
Ah, it is clear that those blinking eyes were 
not made for the strong sunlight of day; but 
let the night come, when eagle and hawk, and 
nearly all the rest of the feathered tribe, seek 
roost and eyrie, and then hear the joyous to- 
whit! to-zvhoo! of the owl; and mark those 
staring orbs, how they expand and the pupils 
dilate, until they can detect the sly mouse as 
he nimbly scrambles among the stubble, or the 
little sparrow hidden among the thick branches. 
God has not forgotten the owl, nor unfitted him 
for his environment; he is a night-banqueter, and 
knows the hour when the hand of the Bounti¬ 
ful One has spread the feast for his enjoyment. 
“ The wings and eyes of birds are little more 
singular than their digestive apparatus. Tooth¬ 
less, the food must be swallowed just as found; 
hard or soft, coarse or fine, it goes into the 
crop, there to be fitted for its work of nutrition. 
