. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . ct it,for its only object in coming is to obtain shelter for a time, and,diuing its stay, to destroy rats or mice, the real scourges of thepigeon-house. When the Barn Owl finds a deficiency of food it has re-course to fishing. It may then be seen diving perpendicularly 5 88 EAPTOEES, OE BIRDS OF PEET. on to the water to capture fish which are floating upon thesurface. The Chinese and Tartars pay special reverence to the Owl, inmemory of a fact which well deserv
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . ct it,for its only object in coming is to obtain shelter for a time, and,diuing its stay, to destroy rats or mice, the real scourges of thepigeon-house. When the Barn Owl finds a deficiency of food it has re-course to fishing. It may then be seen diving perpendicularly 5 88 EAPTOEES, OE BIRDS OF PEET. on to the water to capture fish which are floating upon thesurface. The Chinese and Tartars pay special reverence to the Owl, inmemory of a fact which well deserves to be recorded. GengisKhan, the founder of their empire, having been put to flightby his enemies, was one day compelled to take refuge in a wood,and an Owl which came and perched in the thicket in which hehad hidden himself was the sole cause of his escaping the joursuitof his foes ; for those who were searching for him very naturallyomitted to explore the bushes in which he was concealed, thinkingthat it was impossible that a covert should at the same time shelterboth an Owl and a man. Thus, thanks to the intervention of the. Fig. 273 —The C; e Caiuida or Huv\l; Owl {Surui i Juneca, Yairell). bird, Gengis Khan was saved from hia foes. In memory of thisevent the Chinese were in the habit of wearing on their heads anOwls feather. Certain tribes of the Calmucs have an idol repre-senting an The Ca]sada Owl (Fig. 278) is in North xVmerica, THE WHITE OWL. 5S9 and especially in Canada, It appears casually in ttie North, ofEurope, in Sweden and Norway. Its plumage is of a greyish-brown colour. It feeds on hares, rabbits, rats, mice, reptiles, andbirds ; it is about fifteen inches high. Audubon often had anopportunity of examining it. Its cry, says he, is a waali, waahha, which one is temptedto compare with the affected laugh of a votary of fashion. Oftenin my distant excursions, when encamped under the trees, androasting a slice of venison or a squirrel by means of
Size: 1549px × 1613px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecad, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectreptiles
