asleep, or preparing for repose, and they have | owl, of a smaller size, with blue eyes, and pluonly to seize the most unguarded. The nights when the moon shines are the times of their most successful plunder; for when it is wholly dark, they are less qualified for seeing and pursuing their prey: except, therefore, by moonlight, they contract the hours of their chase; and if they come out at the approach of dusk in the evening, they return before it is totally dark, and then rise by twilight the next morning to pursue their game, and to return in like manner before the broad daylight begins to dazzle them with its splendour. Yet the faculty of seeing in the night, or of being entirely dazzled by the day, is not alike in every species of these nocturnal birds: some see by night better than others; and some are so little dazzled by daylight that they perceive their enemies, and avoid them. The common white or barn owl, for instance, sees with such exqui- | site acuteness in the dark, that though the barn has been shut at night, and the light thus totally excluded, yet it perceives the smallest mouse that peeps from its hole: on the contrary, the brown horned owl is often seen to prowl along the hedges by day, like the sparrow-hawk; and sometimes with good success. All birds of the owl kind may be divided into two sorts: those that have horns, and those without. These horns are nothing more than two or three feathers that stand upon each side of the head over the ear, and give this animal a kind of horned appearance. Of the horned kind is the great horned owl, which at first view appears as large as an eagle. When he comes to be observed more closely, however, he will be found much less. His legs, body, wings, and tail, are shorter ; his head much larger and thicker: his horns are composed of feathers that rise above two inches and a half high, and which he can erect or depress at pleasure: his eyes are large and transparent, encircled with an orange-coloured iris: his ears are large and deep, and it would appear that no animal was possessed with a more exquisite sense of hearing: his plumage is of a reddish brown, marked on the back with black and yellow spots, and yellow only upon the belly. Next to this is the common horned owl, of a much smaller size than the former, and with horns much shorter. As the great owl was five feet from the tip of one wing to the other, this is but three. The horns are but about an inch long, and consist of six feathers, variegated with black and yellow. There is still a smaller kind of the horned owl, which is not much larger than a blackbird; and whose horns are remarkably short, being composed but of one feather, and that not above half-an-inch high. mage of an iron gray; the white owl, about as large as the former, with yellow eyes and whitish plumage; the great brown owl, less than the former, with brown plumage and a brown beak; and lastly, the little brown owl, with yellowish coloured eyes, and an orange-coloured bill. To this catalogue might be added others of foreign denominations, which differ but little from our own, if we except the harfang, or great Hudson's Bay owl of Edwards, which is the largest of all the nocturnal tribe, and as white as the snows of the country of which he is a native. All this tribe of animals, however they may differ in their size and plumage, agree in their general characteristics of preying by night, and having their eyes formed for nocturnal vision. Their bodies are strong and muscular; their feet and claws made for tearing their prey; and their stomachs for digesting it. It must be remarked, however, that the digestion of all birds that live upon mice, lizards, or such like food, is not very perfect; for though they swallow them whole, yet they are always seen some time after to disgorge the skin and bones, rolled up in a pellet, as being indigestible. In proportion as each of these animals bears the daylight best, he sets forward earlier in the evening in pursuit of his prey. The great horned owl is the foremost in leaving his retreat; and ventures into the woods and thickets very soon in the evening. The horned, and the brown owl, are later in their excursions; but the barnowl seems to see best in profound darkness, and seldom leaves his hiding-place till midnight. As they are incapable of supporting the light of the day, or at least of then seeing and readily avoiding their danger, they keep all this time concealed in some obscure retreat, suited to their gloomy appetites, and there continue in solitude and silence. The cavern of a rock, the darkest part of a hollow tree, the battlements of a ruined and unfrequented castle, some obscure hole in a farmer's out-house, are the places where they are usually found: if they be seen out of these retreats in the daytime, they may be considered as having lost their way; as having by some accident been thrown into the midst of their encmies, and surrounded with danger. Having spent the day in their retreat, at the approach of evening they sally forth, and skim rapidly up and down along the hedges. The barn-owl, indeed, who lives chiefly upon mice, is contented to be more stationary he takes his residence upon some shock of corn, or the point of some old house; and there watches in the dark, with the utmost perspicacity and perse verance. Nor are these birds by any means silent; they all have a hideous note; which, while pursuing To these succeeds the tribe without horns. their prey, is seldom heard; but may be considThe howlet, which is the largest of this kind, ered rather as a call to courtship. There is with dusky plumes and black eyes; the screech | something always terrifying in this call, which is often heard in the silence of midnight, and breaks the general pause with a horrid variation. It is different in all; but in each it is alarming and disagreeable. Father Kircher, who has set the voices of birds to music, has given all the tones of the owl note, which make s most tremendous melody. Indeed, the prejudices of mankind are united with their sensations to make the cry of the owl disagreeable. The screech-owl's voice was always considered among the people as a presage of some sad calamity that was soon to ensue. They seldom, however, are heard while they are preying; that important pursuit is always attended with silence, as it is by no means their intention to disturb or forewarn those little animals they wish to surprise. When their pursuit has been successful, they soon return to their solitude, or to their young, if that be the season." If, however, they find but little game, they continue their quest still longer; and it sometimes happens that, obeying the dictates of appetite rather than of prudence, they pursue so long that broad day breaks in upon them, and leaves them dazzled. bewildered, and at a distance from home. In this distress they are obliged to take shelter in the first tree or hedge that offers, there to continue concealed all day, till the returning ¦ darkness once more supplies them with a better plan of the country. But it too often happens that, with all their precaution to conceal themselves, they are spied out by the other birds of the place, and are sure to receive no mercy. The blackbird, the thrush, the jay, the bunting, and the redbreast, all come in file, and employ their little arts of insult and abuse. The smallest, the feeblest, and the most contemptible of this unfortunate bird's enemies, are then the foremost to injure and torment him. They increase their cries and turbulence round him, flap him with their wings, and are ready to show their courage to be great, as they are sensible that their danger is but small. The unfortunate owl, not knowing where to attack or where to fly, patiently sits and suffers all their insults. Astonished and dizzy, he only replies to their mockeries by awkward and ridiculous gestures, by turning his head and rolling his eyes with an air of stu pidity. It is enough that an owl appears by day to set the whole grove into a kind of uproar. Either the aversion all the small birds have to this animal, or the consciousness of their own security, makes them pursue him without ceasing, while they encourage each other by their mutual cries to lend assistance in this laudable undertaking. It sometimes happens, however, that the little birds pursue their insults with the same imprudent zeal with which the owl himself had pursued his depredations. They hunt him the whole day until evening returns; which restoring him his faculties of sight once more, he makes the foremost of his pursuers pay dear for their former sport. Nor is man always an unconcerned spectator here. The bird-catchers have got an art of counterfeiting the cry of the owl exactly; and having before limed the branches of a hedge, they sit unseen, and give the call. At this, all the little birds flock to the place where they expect to find their well-known enemy; but instead of finding their stupid antagonist they are stuck fast to the hedge themselves. This sport must be put in practice an hour before night-fall, in order to be successful; for if it is put off till later, those birds which but a few minutes sooner came to provoke their enemy, will then fly from him with as much terror as they just before showed insolence. It is not unpleasant to see one stupid bird made, in some sort, a decoy to deceive another. The great horned owl is sometimes made use of for this purpose to lure the kite, when falconers desire to catch him for the purposes of training the falcon. Upon this occasion they clap the tail of a fox to the great owl, to render his figure extraordinary; in which trim he sails slowly along, flying low, which is his usual manner. The kite, either curious to observe this odd kind of animal, or perhaps inquisitive to see whether it may not be proper for food, flies after, and comes nearer and nearer. In this manner he continues to hover, and sometimes to descend, till the falconer setting a strong-winged hawk against him, seizes him for the purpose of training his young ones at home. The usual place where the great horned owl breeds is in the cavern of a rock, the hollow of a tree, or the turret of some ruined castle. Its nest is near three feet in diameter, and composed of sticks, bound together by the fibrous roots of trees, and lined with leaves on the inside. It lays about three eggs, which are larger than those of a hen, and of a colour somewhat resembling the bird itself. The young ones are very 1 "I have never," says Mr. C. Waterton," heard an owl, either in Europe or in America, that utters sounds so nearly resembling the human voice as those which our tawny owl sends forth. Here, where all is still, and everything to be found that is inviting to the feathered race, this bird will hoot at intervals throughout the day, both in cloudy and in sunny weather. Were you to pronounce the letter O in a loud and very clear tone of voice, and then, after a short pause, repeat the same letter in a drawling, trem-Voracious, and the parents not less expert in satulous accent, you would have a tolerably just idea of the hooting of the tawny owl. It will sometimes produce a sharp cry, which sounds not unlike the word quo-ah; both male and female utter this cry." -ED. 2 The common brown owl is known to be in the habit of feeding its young with fish.-ED. isfying the call of hunger. The lesser owl of this kind never makes a nest for itself, but always takes up with the old nest of some other bird, which it has often been forced to abandon. It lays four or five eggs; and the young are all white at first, but change colour in about a fort however, capable of bearing the light of day; these and in these also a nearer approach to that genus pursue their prey in the same manner as the falcons, is observable, in the smaller size of the head, the dimensions of the eye, and the comparative length of the wings and tail. night. The other owls in general build near the | the approaching night. Some of the species are, place where they chiefly prey; that which feeds upon birds, in some neighbouring grove; that which preys chiefly upon mice, near some farmer's yard, where the proprietor of the place takes care to give it perfect security. In fact, whatever mischief one species of owl may do in adapted to its mode of life; in the former, the pupil The eye and ear of the owl are both admirably the woods, the barn-owl makes a sufficient recom- being capable of great dilatation, and formed, by its pense for, by being equally active in destroying particular prominence, for collecting the horizontal mice nearer home; so that a single owl is said and dim rays of twilight; and being also furnished to be more serviceable than half-a-dozen cats, in with a strong nictitating membrane, that serves, upon occasion, to defend it from the glare of day, at the ridding the barn of its domestic vermin. same time that it allows the bird to see with suffithe year 1580," says an old writer, "at Hallon-cient distinctness for avoiding any sudden danger or tide, an army of mice so overrun the marshes near Southminster, that they eat up the grass to the very roots. But at length a great number of strange painted owls came and devoured all the mice." The like happened again in Essex about sixty years after. "In In con.. surprise. The external orifices of the ears are very large and complex, generally furnished with a valve, sequence of this formation and disposition, they are and situated immediately behind the eyes. alive to the slightest noise, and not even the rustling of a mouse can escape their notice. The flight of the owl, when disturbed during the day, is abrupt and To conclude our account of these birds, they unsteady, but, at night, it skims along in search of are all very shy of man, and extremely indocile texture of its plumage, producing the peculiar buoyits prey with great facility; the delicate and downy and difficult to be tamed. The white owl in par-ancy which must have been generally remarked in the ticular, as Mr. Buffon asserts, cannot be made to flight of these birds. live in captivity; I suppose he means, if it be taken when old. 66 "They live," says he, "ten or twelve days in the aviary where they are shut up; but they refuse all kind of nourishment, and at last die of hunger. By day they remain without moving upon the floor of the aviary; in the evening they mount on the highest perch, where they continue to make a noise like a man snoring with his mouth open. This seems designed as a call for their old companions without; and, in fact, I have seen several others come to the call, and perch upon the roof of the aviary, where they made the same kind of hissing, and soon after permitted themselves to be taken in a net.3 A 3 Mr. Constedt, in the Transactions of the Philosophical Society of Stockholm,' has recorded a pleasing instance of their attachment to their young. young owl having quitted the nest, in the month of July, was caught by his servants, and shut up in a large hen-coop. The next morning a young partridge was found lying dead before the door of the coop. For fourteen successive nights the same circumstance was repeated plainly proving that it had been brought there by the old owls as a provision for the young one. Till the month of August, various articles of food, as young partridges, moor - fowl, pieces of lamb, and other substances, were regularly brought; after which time the parents discontinued their attendance, and it may be remarked that this is the period when all birds of prey abandon their young to their own exertions.-ED. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE. In a systematic arrangement, the owls, from their resemblance in form, and alliance in character to the falcon genus, naturally follow them in the order of rapacious birds. The greater part of this genus (Strix) are nocturnal, or rather crepuscular birds of prey, sallying forth from their concealed retreats towards the close of day, when other birds are retiring to roost; but when the animals, which form their principal food, are quitting their holes, to feed in expected security during the silence and darkness of The genus is usually divided into two sections; horned or eared owls, such as have a tuft of elongated feathers on each side of the forehead, and smoothheaded owls, or those destitute of the lengthened feathers. This second section has been subdivided by some authors into a third, called accipitrine; but as the gradation from one to another is almost imperceptible, and the characters upon which they have attempted to establish this subdivision are far from being distinct, it is quite sufficient for the general purposes of science to adhere to the twofold divi sion. The British Fauna enumerates four species in each section, of which two in the eared owls, and three in the smooth-headed, are indigenous; the others are but occasional visitants. I. HORNED OWLS. Short-eared Owl, Little-horned Owl, Strix Bubo. Great-horned, or Eagle owl.-This species, which is equal in size to some of the largest eagles, is of very rare occurrence in Great Britain; and, in the few instances on record, the birds can only be regarded as wanderers, or compelled by tempest to cross the Northern ocean. It preys upon fawns, rabbits, the different species of grouse, rats, &c.—It builds amid rocks, or on lofty trees, and lays two or three eggs, larger than those of a hen, round at each end, and of a bluish-white colour. According to Temminck, it is common in Russia, Hungary, Germany, and Switzerland. It is also a native of Africa, and the northern parts of the New World. Long-eared owl.-The excellent mixture of colours in this bird, and the imposing appearance of its long tufts or ears, render it one of the most interesting of its genus. Though not so numerous as the barn, or the tawny owl, it is found in most of the wooded districts of England and Scotland. Plantations of fir, particularly of the spruce kind, are its favourite the Orkney and Shetland Isles, in the year 1812, Mr. Bullock, the late proprietor of the London Museum, met with it in both groups of islands; and it is no w ascertained that the species is resident, and breeds there. A few years ago a fine specimen was shot near Selby-on-moor in England. It is common in the regions of the arctic circle even inhabiting the frozen coasts of Greenland; is very numerous on the shores of Hudson's Bay, in Norway, Sweden, and Lapland; but of very rare occurrence in the temperate parts of Europe and America. haunts, as in these it finds a secure and sheltered retreat during the day. It also frequently inhabits thick holly or ivy bushes, whose evergreen foliage insures a similar retirement. It is an indigenous species, and breeds early in spring; not making any nest of its own, but taking possession of that of a magpie or crow. The eggs are generally four or five in number, white, and rather larger and rounder than those of the ring-dove. When first excluded, the young birds are covered with a fine and closely set white down; they remain in the nest for more than a month before they are able to fly. If disturbed and handled, they hiss violently, strike with their talons, and, at the same time, make a snapping noise with their bills. When they quit the nest, they take up their abode in some adjoining tree, and, for many subsequent days, may be heard, after sun-checking the breed of the common and shrew mouse, set, uttering a plaintive but loud call for food; during which time the parent birds may be seen diligently employed in hawking for prey. Mice and moles form the principal part of their provender; though Montague says, that they sometimes take small birds on the roost. It is pretty generally diffused throughout Europe; and in North America is found to inhabit the woods at a distance from the sea. It has been observed as far northward as Hudson's Bay. It is 14 inches in length, and 3 ft. 2 in. from the tip of one wing to that of another. Short-eared owl.-The birds of this species are only to be met with in England between the months of October and April, as they migrate on the approach of spring to the northern islands of Scotland, where they breed. Mr. Low, in his Fauna Orcadensis,' mentions this owl as being very frequent in the hills of Hoy, where it builds its nest amongst the heath. ! It is there of great boldness, and has been seen to chase pigeons in the open day. In a nest, which contained two full-fledged young ones, he found the remains of a moor-fowl, and two plovers, besides the feet of several others. In this country they generally remain concealed in long grass, or in rushy places, upon waste grounds, or moors. In autumn, they are often met with in turnip fields, but are seldom seen in plantations; nor do they ever attempt to perch upon a tree. Five or six of these birds are frequently found roosting together; from which circumstance it is probable that they migrate in families. Montague thinks that this may arise from the abundance of food they meet with in the places where they are thus collected; but the truth of this supposition may be doubted, from the fact of their being seldom met with during two days together in the same place. The head of this owl being smaller than the generality of its fellow-species, has procured it, in some parts, the name of hawk-owl, or mouse-hawk. Many ornithologists have been in doubt respecting it, and the synonymes are consequently in some confusion and obscurity. This owl is of wide locality, being met with in Siberia, and in many parts of North America; and specimens are also mentioned as having been brought from the Sandwich Islands. Scops-eared owl.-This species is very common in the warmer parts of Europe during the summer months, but regularly leaves them on the approach of autumn, for regions near to the equator. In France, it arrives and departs with the swallow. Its favourite residence in Italy, according to Spallanzani, is in the lower wooded regions. Field and shrew mice, insects, and earth-worms, are its food, in quest of which it sallies forth at nightfall, uttering at the same time its cry, which resembles the word chivi, and whence in some districts, it has acquired the name of Chevini. It constructs no nest, but deposits five or six eggs in the hollow of a tree. Snowy owl. It is only within these few years past, that this noble and beautiful owl has been established as indigenous in Great Britain. In a tour made to Barn or White owl.-This is the most common of the British species, and is found in every part of the kingdom. It is an inhabitant of ruins, church-towers, barns, and other buildings, where it is not liable to continual interruption; and is of essential service in upon which it subsists.-On the approach of twilight it may frequently be seen issuing from its retreat to the adjoining meadows and hedge-banks in search of food, hunting with great regularity, and precipitating itself upon its prey with rapidity and unerring aim. This it swallows whole, and without any attempt to tear it in pieces with its claws. It breeds in old towers, under the eaves of churches, or in similar | quiet places, and sometimes in the hollows of trees, laying from three to five eggs, of a bluish white colour. The young, when first from the shell, are covered with white down, and are a long time in becoming fully fledged, or in being able to quit the nest. Like the other species of owls, it ejects the hair, bones, and other indigestible parts of its food, in oval pellets, by the mouth. These castings are often found in great quantities in places where these birds have long resorted. In its flight it occasionally utters loud screams, and when perched, hisses and snores considerably. It is an abundant species throughout Europe and Asia, and Temminck says it is the same throughout North America. It is easily domesticated, and will become very tame when taken young. Montague reared a white owl, a sparrow-hawk, and a ring-dove together, who lived in great harmony for six months. They were then set at liberty; and the owl was the only one of the three that returned. In Tawny owl. Next to the white or barn owl, the tawny owl is the most abundant of the British species. and is, like the former, generally dispersed throughout the kingdom; but is most readily to be met with in well-wooded districts, as it takes up its abode in woods and thick plantations, preferring those which abound in firs and holly, or ivy bushes. such situations it remains concealed till night-fall, as it is very impatient of the glare of day, and sees, indeed, imperfectly during that time. It builds in the cavities of old trees, or will occupy the deserted nest of a crow, and produces four or five white eggs, of an elliptical shape. The young, on their exclusion, are covered with a grayish down, and are easily tamed, when fed by the hand; but Montague observes, that if placed out of doors within hearing of their parents, they retain their native shyness, as the old birds visit them at night, and supply them with abundance of food. They prey upon rats, mice, moles, rabbits, and young leverets, and are sometimes destructive to pigeons, entering the dovecots, and committing great havoc. At night this species is very clamorous, and is easily to be known from the others by its hooting, in the utterance of which sounds its throat is largely inflated. Little owl.-This diminutive species is only an occasional visitant in England, and that but very rarely. According to Temminck, it is never found in Europe beyond the 55th degree of north latitude; but in the warmer regions of this quarter of the globe it is very common. It inhabits ruins, church-towers, and similar old buildings, and in such it also breeds. The eggs are four or five in number, of a round shape, and white like those of most of the other species. It is of a wild and fierce disposition, and not capable of being tamed like the little-horned or scops-eared owl. It sometimes preys by day, and, from having been seen to pursue swallows, must be strong and rapid on the wing. Its prey consists of mice, small birds, and insects.-See Selby's Ornitho logy. BOOK IV. OF BIRDS OF THE POULTRY KIND. CHAP. I. OF BIRDS OF THE POULTRY KIND IN GENERAL. FROM the most rapacious and noxious tribe of Almost, if not all, the domestic birds of the poultry kind that we maintain in our yards, are of foreign extraction; but there are others to be ranked in this class that are as yet in a state of nature; and perhaps only wait till they become sufficiently scarce to be taken under the care of man, to multiply their propagation. It will appear remarkable enough, if we consider how much the tame poultry which we have imported from distant climates has increased, and how much those wild birds of the poultry kind that have never yet been taken into keeping have been diminished and destroyed. They are all thinned; and many of the species, especially in the more cultivated and populous parts of the kingdom, are utterly unseen. Under birds of the poultry kind I rank all those that have white flesh, and, comparatively to their head and limbs, have bulky bodies. They are furnished with short strong bills for picking up grain, which is their chief and often their only sustenance. Their wings are short and concave; for which reason they are not able to fly far. They lay a great many eggs; and, as they lead their young abroad the very day they are hatched, in quest of food, which they are shown by the mother, and which they pick up for themselves, they generally make their nests on the ground. The toes of all these are united by a membrane as far as the first articulation, and then are divided as in those of the former class. These common cock, the peacock, the turkey, the pin- As Nature has formed the rapacious class for war, so she seems equally to have fitted these for peace, rest, and society. Their wings are but short, so that they are but ill-formed for wandering from one region to another; their bills are also short, and incapable of annoying their opposers; their legs are strong, indeed, but their toes are made for scratching up their food, and not for holding or tearing it. These are sufficient indications of their harmless nature; while their bodies, which are fat and fleshy, render them unwieldy travellers, and incapable of straying far from each other. Accordingly we find them chiefly in society; they live together; and though they may have their disputes, like all other animals, upon some occasions, yet when kept in the same district, or fed in the same yard, they learn the arts of subordination; and, in proportion as each knows his strength, he seldom tries a second time the combat where he has once been worsted. In this manner, all of this kind seem to lead an indolent voluptuous life; as they are furnished internally with a very strong stomach, commonly called a gizzard, so their voraciousness scarcely knows any bounds. If kept in close captivity, and separated from all their former companions, they still have the pleasure of eating left; and they soon grow fat and unwieldy in their prison. To say this more simply, many of the wilder species of birds, when cooped or caged, pine away, grow gloomy, and some refuse all sustenance whatever; none, except those of the poultry kind, grow fat, who seem to lose all remembrance of their former liberty, satisfied with indolence and plenty. The poultry kind may be considered as senUnder this class we may therefore rank the sual epicures, solely governed by their appetites. |