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only insects, but flesh, and the bodies of such birds as are thrown to him, on nails and sticks fixed up for the purpose. The character of the Butcher-bird is entitled to no small degree of respect. His activity is visible in all his motions; his courage and intrepidity beyond every other bird of his size (the King-bird excepted); and in affection for his young, he is surpassed by no other. He associates with them, the whole family hunting in company. He attacks the largest Hawk or Eagle in their defence, with a resolution truly astonishing, so that all of them respect him, and on every occasion decline the contest. As the snows of winter approach, he descends from the mountainous forests and from the regions of the north, to the more cultivated parts of the country, hovering about our hedge-rows, orchards, and meadows, and disappears again early in April.-Wilson.

THE LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE.

THIS species has a considerable resemblance to the preceding. It differs from it however in size, and its colour is darker. It inhabits the warmer parts of the United States; and is protected in Carolina and Georgia for its usefulness in destroying mice in the rice plantations. It sits, for hours together, on a fence, beside the stacks of rice, watching like a cat; and as soon as it perceives a mouse, darts on it like a hawk. It also feeds on crickets and grasshoppers. Its note in March resembles the clear creaking of a sign-board in windy weather. It builds its nest in a detached bush. It is generally known by the name of the LOGGERHEAD. Wilson.

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ONE of the most striking examples of the prevalence of vulgar prejudice over common sense and daily experience is afforded by the contemptuous antipathy in which the Owls, the most useful to man of all the birds of prey, are almost universally held by those who derive the greatest advantage from their peculiar instincts. The singularity of their appearance, the loneliness of their habitations, the moping melancholy of their manners, their nocturnal habits, the still silence of their motions, and the grating harshness of their cries, combine to render them objects of dislike and terror to the timid and superstitious, who see in them something of an unearthly character, and regard them as birds of evil omen. But the commonest observation teach us that they are in reality the best and most efficient protectors of our corn-fields and granaries from the devastating pillage of the swarms of mice and other small rodents, which but for them would increase to the most mischievous extent. By their wholesale destruction of these petty but dangerous enemies, the Owls earn an unquestionable title to be regarded as among the most active of the friends of man; a title which only one or two of them forfeit by their aggressions on his defenceless poultry.

All birds of the Owl kind have one common mark, by which they are distinguished from others; their eyes, like those of tigers and cats, are formed for seeing better in the dusk, than in the broad glare of sunshine. The pupil, in fact, is capable of opening very wide, or shutting very close; and, by contracting it, the brighter light of the day, which would act too powerfully upon the sensibility of the eye, is excluded; while, by dilating the pupil, the animal takes in the more faint rays of the night, and thereby is enabled to spy its prey, and catch it with greater facility in the dark.

But though Owls are dazzled by too bright a day-light, yet they do not see best in the darkest nights, as some have been apt to imagine.

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 day, is not alike in every species of these nocturnal birds. The common white or barn Owl, for instance, sees with such exquisite acuteness in the dark, and though the barn has been shut at night, and the light thus totally excluded, that 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 sparrowhawk; and sometimes with good success. The note of the Owl is not unpleasant. "A friend," says Mr. White," remarks that most of his Owls hoot in B flat; but

that one went almost half a note below A.-A neighbour of mine, who is said to have a nice ear, remarks that the Owls about this village hoot in three different keys, in G flat, or F sharp, in B flat and A flat. He heard two hooting to each other, the one in A flat, and the other in B flat."

The 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 up on each side of the head over the ear, and give this animal a kind of horned appearance. Of the horned kind, is the GREAT-EARED or HORNED, or EAGLE OWL,

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which at first view appears as large as an eagle, though when he comes to be observed more closely, he will be found much less. His eyes are large and transparent, en

circled with an orange coloured iris: his ears are large and deep his plumage is of reddish brown, marked on the back with black and yellow spots, and yellow only upon the belly. To its offspring it is very affectionate, and if they are taken from the nest and confined, it will assiduously supply them with food. This, however, it accomplishes with such secrecy and sagacity, that it is almost impossible to detect it in the act. This bird has been seen in Scotland, and in Yorkshire, but is not common in England.

Next to the American Eagle Owl, which we shall describe hereafter, we may class that which is called the Long-eared OwL. It is in length fourteen inches and a half. The eared tufts consist of six feathers. It is a reddish brown. The legs are feathered down to the toes. These birds are seldom at the trouble of making a nest for themselves, but generally take possession of an old magpie's or buzzard's nest. They lay four or five eggs. The young are white at first, but come to their colour in fifteen days. They are common in France and England.

The SHORT-EARED OWL is only fourteen inches long. It has one feather half an inch longer than the rest on each side of the head, which it can erect at pleasure. Its back is brown, and the belly a pale yellow, streaked with brown. The legs are feathered to the toes. It may be accounted a bird of passage, visiting England in October, and retiring in spring.

The Scops is still smaller than the last mentioned bird, which it resembles in most respects. It is, however, only seven or eight inches long, that is, not so large as a thrush ; its ears consist of two feathers, which are just elevated above the others. In France it appears as a bird of passage; but it is dubious whether it ever visits England.

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