t him, seize his clothes with one
claw, hold on to the grass with the other, and thus make him prisoner.

Often was the proprietor of the house called upon to release persons
that had been thus seized by the eagle. It is a curious fact that he
never attacked ragged people going to the house the back way. It was
only when they attempted to enter through the front door that he
assailed them. He had some other curious habits; he did not go out
every day to get breakfast, dinner, and supper; his custom was about
once a week to make a hearty meal, and that was sufficient for six
days. His most common food was the king-bird, of which he would catch
sometimes ten in the course of a few hours, and these would suffice for
his weekly repast.

THE OWL.

Of this numerous family, there are a great variety of species; but
nearly all steal forth at night, preying upon such birds and quadrupeds
as they can master. They are spread over the northern portions of both
continents, and appear in all minds to be associated with ideas of
melancholy and gloom. The owl was anciently an emblem of wisdom; but we
have no evidence that it possesses sagacity in any degree superior to
that of any other member of the feathered family.

Mr. Nuttall gives us the following description of a red owl: "I took
him out of a hollow apple-tree, and kept him several months. A dark
closet was his favorite retreat during the day; in the evening he
became very lively, gliding across the room with a side-long, restless
flight, blowing with a hissing noise, stretching out his neck in a
threatening manner, and snapping with his bill. He was a very expert
mouse-catcher, swallowed his prey whole, and afterwards ejected the
bones, skin, and hair, in round balls. He also devoured large flies. He
never showed any inclination to drink."

The little owl has a cry, when flying, like _poopoo_. Another note,
which it utters sitting, appears so much like the human voice calling
out, _Aime aime edme_, that it deceived one of Buffon's servants, who
lodged in one of the old turrets of a castle; and waking him up at
three o'clock in the morning with this singular cry, the man opened the
window, and called out, "Who's there below? My name is not Edme, but
Peter!"

A carpenter, passing through a field near Gloucester, England, was
attacked by a barn owl that had a nest of young ones in a tree near the
path. The bird flew at his head; and the man, striking at it with a
tool he