. Bird-land echoes; . pounces on a mouse long before sunset, and alsofrom the manner of its flight when flushed, that themarsh-owl can see pretty well by daylight; but itdoes not like being disturbed during the day, andwill skulk like a wounded bird rather than leavethe grass. One that I long held in captivity usu-. A Few Feathered Fiends. 235 ally stood in a corner of the room with its face tothe wall, but if forced away, would sprawl on thefloor and extend its wings, as if trying to concealitself by blending with the colors of the carpet,and similar tactics are no doubt adopted by thewild bi
. Bird-land echoes; . pounces on a mouse long before sunset, and alsofrom the manner of its flight when flushed, that themarsh-owl can see pretty well by daylight; but itdoes not like being disturbed during the day, andwill skulk like a wounded bird rather than leavethe grass. One that I long held in captivity usu-. A Few Feathered Fiends. 235 ally stood in a corner of the room with its face tothe wall, but if forced away, would sprawl on thefloor and extend its wings, as if trying to concealitself by blending with the colors of the carpet,and similar tactics are no doubt adopted by thewild bird, for in localities where we are positivethat they are plentiful it is at times impossible tofind them ; yet later, in the gloaming, they suddenlyappear, and fly to and fro, bat-like, over the veryground that had been previously carefully , in the marshes, they fly just above the vege-tation, but in such a quiet and erratic way that onecan scarcely distinguish them. In winter, particu-larly, they frequent the upland fields, and it is ratherstartling, while walking across lots after sunset, tohave one of these birds flap its broad wings directlyin front of you and then go bouncing off in an ab-surd way ; one moment lost to view, when near theground, and then looming up larger than life as it
Size: 1390px × 1797px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1896
