Part 65
Thus kites and buzzards sail round in circles with wings expanded and motionless: and it is from their gliding manner that the former are still called in the north of England gleads, from the Saxon verb _glidan_, to glide. The kestrel or wind-hover has a peculiar mode of hanging in the air in one place, his wings all the while being briskly agitated. Hen-harriers fly low over heaths or fields of corn, and beat the ground regularly like a pointer or setting-dog. Owls move in a buoyant manner, as if lighter than the air; they seem to want ballast. There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens that must draw the attention even of the most incurious—they spend all their leisure time in striking and cuffing each other on the wing in a kind of playful skirmish; and when they move from one place to another, frequently turn on their backs with a loud croak, and seem to be falling to the ground. When this odd gesture betides them, they are scratching themselves with one foot, and thus lose the centre of gravity. Rooks sometimes dive and tumble in a frolicsome manner; crows and daws swagger in their walk; woodpeckers fly _volatu undoso_, opening and closing their wings at every stroke, and so are always rising or falling in curves. All of this genus use their tails, which incline downward, as a support while they run up trees. Parrots, like all other hook-clawed birds, walk awkwardly, and make use of their bill as a third foot, climbing and descending with ridiculous caution. All the _Gallinæ_ parade and walk gracefully, and run nimbly; but fly with difficulty, with an impetuous whirring, and in a straight line. Magpies and jays flutter with powerless wings, and make no despatch; herons seem encumbered with too much sail for their light bodies, but their vast hollow wings are necessary in carrying burthens, such as large fishes, and the like; pigeons, and particularly the sort called smiters, have a way of clashing their wings the one against the other over their backs with a loud snap; another variety called tumblers turn themselves over in the air. Some birds have movements peculiar to the season of pairing; thus ringdoves, though strong and rapid at other times, yet in the spring hang about on the wing in a toying and playful manner: thus the cock-snipe, while breeding, forgetting his former flight, fans the air like the wind-hover; and the greenfinch in particular exhibits such languishing and faltering gestures as to appear like a wounded and dying bird; the kingfisher darts along like an arrow; fern-owls, or goat-suckers, glance in the dusk over the tops of trees like a meteor; starlings, as it were, swim along, while missel-thrushes use a wild and desultory flight; swallows sweep over the surface of the ground and water, and distinguish themselves by rapid turns and quick evolutions; swifts dash round in circles; and the bank martin moves with frequent vacillations like a butterfly. Most of the small birds fly by jerks, rising and falling as they advance. Most small birds hop, but wagtails and larks walk, moving their legs alternately. Skylarks rise and fall perpendicularly as they sing; woodlarks hang poised in the air; and titlarks rise and fall in large curves, singing in their descent. The whitethroat uses odd jerks and gesticulations over the tops of hedges and bushes. All the duck kind waddle; divers and auks walk as if fettered, and stand erect on their tails; these are the _compedes_ of Linnæus. Geese and cranes, and most wild fowls, move in figured flights, often changing their position. The secondary _remiges_ of _Tringæ_, wild ducks, and some others, are very long, and give their wings, when in motion, a hooked appearance. Dabchicks, moorhens, and coots, fly erect, with their legs hanging down, and hardly make any despatch; the reason is plain, their wings are placed too forward out of the true centre of gravity, as the legs of auks and divers are situated too backward.—_White’s Selborne._
ORTOLAN, _s._ A small bird accounted very delicious.
OSIER, _s._ A tree of the willow kind, growing by the water.
OSPREY, _s._ The sea eagle. _Vide_ EAGLE.
Buffon observes that the osprey is the most numerous of the large birds of prey, and is scattered over the extent of Europe, from Sweden to Greece, and that it is found even in Egypt and Nigritia. Its haunts are on the sea shore, and on the borders of rivers and lakes. Its principal food is fish; it darts upon its prey with great rapidity, and with undeviating aim.
OSSIFICATION, _s._ Change of carneous, membranous, or cartilaginous, into bony substance.
Ossification of the cartilages frequently accompanies ringbone, but it may exist without any affection of the pastern joint. It is oftenest found in horses of heavy draught. It arises not so much from concussion, as from a species of sprain, for the pace of the horse is slow. The cause, indeed, is not well understood, but of the effect we have too numerous instances. Very few heavy draught horses arrive at old age without this change of structure.
In the healthy state of the foot, these cartilages will readily yield to the pressure of the fingers on the coronet over the quarters, but, by degrees, the resistance becomes greater, and at length bone is formed, and the parts yield no more. No evident inflammation of the foot, or great, or perhaps even perceptible lameness accompanies this change; a mere slight degree of stiffness may have been observed, which, in a horse of more rapid pace, would have been lameness. Even when the change is completed, there is not in many cases any thing more than a slight increase of stiffness, little or not at all interfering with the usefulness of the horse. When this altered structure appears in the lighter horse, the lameness is more decided, and means should be taken to arrest the progress of the change: these are blisters or firing; but, after those parts have become bony, no operation will restore the cartilage.—_The Horse._
OSSIFRAGE, _s._ A kind of eagle.
OSTEOLOGY, _s._ A description of the bones.
OSTLER, _s._ The man who takes care of horses at an inn.
OTTER, _s._ An amphibious animal that preys upon fish.
The description of this animal and the mode of destroying it are mentioned on account of its being so inveterate a foe to the fisherman’s amusement, for the otter is as destructive in a pond as a polecat in a hen-house. This animal seems to link the chain of gradation between terrestrial and aquatic creatures, resembling the former in its shape, and the latter in being able to remain for a considerable space of time under water, and being furnished with membranes like fins between the toes, which enable it to swim with such rapidity as to overtake fish in their own element. The otter, however, properly speaking, is not amphibious; he is not formed for continuing in the water, since, like other terrestrial creatures, he requires the aid of respiration; for if, in pursuit of his prey, he accidentally gets entangled in a net, and has not time to cut with his teeth the sufficient number of meshes to effectuate his escape, he is drowned. The usual length of the otter, from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, is twenty-three inches; of the tail itself, which is broad at the insertion and tapers to a point, sixteen; the weight of the male is from eighteen to twenty-six, of the female from thirteen to twenty pounds. One, in October, 1794, was snared in the river Lea between Ware and Hertford, which weighed upwards of forty pounds. The head and nose are broad and flat; the eyes are brilliant, although small; are nearer the nose than is usual in quadrupeds, and placed in such a manner as to discern every object that is above, which gives the otter a singular aspect, not unlike the eel; but this property of seeing what is above gives it a particular advantage when lurking at the bottom for its prey, as the fish cannot discern any object under them, and the otter seizing them from beneath by the belly readily takes any number with little exertion; the ears are extremely short, and their orifice narrow; the opening of the mouth is small, the lips are capable of being brought very close, somewhat resembling the mouth of a fish; are very muscular, and designed to close the mouth firmly while in the action of diving, and the nose and corners of the mouth are furnished with very long whiskers; it has thirty-six teeth, six cutting and two canine above and below; of the former the middlemost are the least; it has besides five grinders on each side in both jaws. The legs are very short, but remarkably broad and muscular; the joints articulated so loosely, that the otter can turn them quite back, and bring them on a line with its body and use them as fins; each foot has five toes, connected by strong webs like those of a water-fowl; thus nature in every particular has attended to the way of life allotted to an animal whose food is fish, and whose haunts must necessarily be about waters. The otter has no heel, but a round ball under the sole of the foot, by which its track in the mud is easily distinguished, and is termed the seal. The general shape of the otter is somewhat similar to that of an overgrown weasel, being long and slender; its colour is entirely a deep brown, except two small spots of white on each side the nose, and one under the chin; the skin is valuable, if killed in the winter, and makes gloves more durable, and which at the same time will retain their pliancy and softness after being repeatedly wetted, beyond any other leather.
The otter destroys large quantities of fish, for he will eat none unless it be perfectly fresh, and what he takes himself; by his mode of eating them he causes a still greater consumption. So soon as the otter catches a fish, he drags it on shore, devours it to the vent, but, unless pressed by extreme hunger, always leaves the remainder, and takes to the water in quest of more. In rivers it is always observed to swim against the stream, to meet its prey; it has been asserted, that two otters will hunt in concert that active fish the salmon; one stations itself above, the other below where the fish lies, and being thus chased incessantly the wearied salmon becomes their victim. To suppose the otter never uses the sea is a mistake, for they often have been seen in it, both swimming and seeking for their booty, which, in the Orkneys, has been observed to be cod and conger.
In very hard weather, when its natural sort of food fails, the otter will kill lambs, sucking pigs, and poultry, and one was caught in a warren, where he had come to prey on rabbits.
The hunting of the otter was formerly considered as excellent sport, and hounds were kept solely for that purpose. The chase of the otter has still, however, its staunch admirers, who are apparently as zealous in this pursuit as in any other we read of. In 1796, near Bridgnorth, on the river Worse, four otters were killed: one stood three, another four hours, before the dogs, and was scarcely a minute out of sight. The hearts, &c., were eaten by many respectable people who attended the hunt, and allowed to be very delicious; the carcasses were also eaten by the men employed, and found to be excellent; what is a little extraordinary, the account does not state that the partakers of this hard-earned fare were Carthusians.
* * * * *
As he spoke, I remarked the occurrence which the commander noticed. The fish, which upon our first arrival had risen merrily at the natural flies, ceased on a sudden altogether—now they rushed confusedly through the water, or threw themselves for yards along the surface. It was not the sullen plunge at an insect, or the vertical spring, when sport, not food, brings the salmon over water; but it was evident that there was some hidden cause of alarm, and we were not long left in doubt. Near the neck of the pool, an otter of the largest size showed himself for a moment, then darting under water, the same commotion ensued again. Before a minute elapsed, Andy Bawn pointed silently to a shoal beneath an overhanging bush, and there was the spoiler, apparently resting himself after his successful exertions, and holding a four-pound white-trout in his mouth. Either he noticed us, or had some more favourite haunt to feed in, for he glided into the deep water, and we saw no more of him.
Although we found out that the otter and ourselves could not manage to fish in company, we ascertained that the pool was abundantly stocked with salmon:—during the period of the greatest alarm, at least half a dozen fish were breaking the surface at the same time.
A curious incident, however, supplied us with an excellent white fish. The servant who brought the post bag, when in the act of crossing the river, which in his route from the lodge he was obliged to do repeatedly, most unexpectedly encountered a large otter carrying off a salmon he had just seized. The postman attacked the poacher vigorously, who, dropping his prey, glided off into the deep water at the tail of the ford. The spoil proved to be a fresh salmon not twenty hours from the sea, and consequently in prime condition. The otter showed himself the best artist of the day, for while the Colonel and his companion returned with empty baskets, the little animal managed to secure the finest and freshest salmon in the river.—_Wild Sports._
OTTERHOUND (_Canis Latrans_), _s._
The otter hound is a mixed breed between the hardy southern hound and the large rough terrier. His head is large and broad, his ears long and pendulous; he is in size betwixt the harrier and the fox hound; is thick quartered and shouldered; his hair strong and wiry, and somewhat shaggy. He is a bold and fierce dog, and has a full and harmonious voice. He is usually sandy-coloured on the back, the sides, and the neck, with the lower parts white; he carries his tail, which is rough, in the manner of a fox-hound.
Otter hunting, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was a favourite amusement amongst the young gentry of Great Britain, at which period that animal was much more numerous than at the present time, being greatly reduced since population became more dense, and gamekeepers more generally used, who employ all kinds of traps and gins to destroy them. Cultivation has also contributed to lessen this destructive creature.
Otter hounds were kept in small packs of from six to sixteen, seldom exceeding that number. The sport of otter hunting is now little understood, and is quite on the decline in this country.
OVAL, _a._ Oblong, resembling the longitudinal section of an egg.
OVERREACH, _v._ A horse is said to over-reach, when he brings his hinder feet too far forwards, so as to strike against his fore-feet.
Under this term are comprised bruises and wounds of the coronet, produced usually in the hind-feet, by the awkward habit of setting one foot upon another, and in the fore-feet, by the hinder one over-reaching it, and wounding the other near the heel. When properly treated, a tread is seldom productive of much injury. If the dirt be well washed out of it, and a pledget of tow dipped in Friar’s balsam be bound over the wound, it will, in the majority of cases, speedily heal. Should the bruise be extensive, or the wound deep, a poultice may be applied for one or two days, and then the Friar’s balsam, or digestive ointment. Sometimes a soft tumour will form on the part, which will be quickly brought to suppuration by a poultice, and when the matter has run out the ulcer will heal by the application of the Friar’s balsam, or a weak solution of blue vitriol.
OVERSET, _v._ To turn the bottom upwards, to throw off the basis; to throw out of regularity; to upset a carriage.
OVIPAROUS, _a._ Bringing forth eggs, not viviparous.
OUNCE, _s._ The sixteenth part of a pound in Avoirdupoise weight, the twelfth part of a pound in Troy weight.
OUTSTRIP, _v._ To outgo, to leave behind.
OWL or OWLET, _s._ A bird that flies in the night and catches mice.
The owl is distinguished, among birds of the rapacious kind, by peculiar and striking characters; its outward appearance is not more singular than its habits and dispositions. Unable to bear the brighter light of the sun, the owl retires to some lonely retreat, where it passes the day in silence and obscurity; but on the approach of evening, when all nature is desirous of repose, and the smaller animals, which are its principal food, are seeking their nestling places, the owl comes forth from its lurking holes in quest of its prey. Its eyes are admirably adapted for this purpose, being so formed as to distinguish objects with greater facility in the dusk than in broad day-light. Its flight is low and silent during its nocturnal excursions, and when it rests, it is then only known by its frightful and reiterated cries, with which it interrupts the silence of the night. During the day, the owl is seldom seen, but, if forced from his retreat, his flight is broken and interrupted, and he is sometimes attended by numbers of small birds of various kinds, who, seeing his embarrassment, pursue him with incessant cries, and torment him with their movements: the jay, the thrush, the blackbird, the red-breast, and the titmouse, all assemble to hurry and perplex him. During all this, the owl remains perched upon the branch of a tree, and answers them only with awkward and insignificant gestures, turning his head, eyes, and body, with all the appearance of mockery and affectation. All the species of owls, however, are not alike dazzled and confused with the light of the sun; some of them being able to fly, and see distinctly in open day.
Nocturnal birds of prey are generally divided into two kinds—that which hath horns or ears, and that which is earless or without horns. These horns consist of small tufts of feathers, standing up like ears on each side of the head, which are erected or depressed at the pleasure of the animal; and in all probability are of use in directing the organs of hearing, which are very large, to their proper object. Both kinds agree in having their eyes so formed as to be able to pursue their prey with much less light than other birds. The general character of the owl is as follows:—The eyes are large, and are surrounded with a radiated circle of feathers, of which the eye itself is the centre; the beak and talons are strong and crooked; the body very short, but thick, and well covered with a coat of the softest and most delicate plumage; the external edges of the outer quill feathers in general are finely fringed, which adds greatly to the smoothness and silence of its flight.
_The Great-eared Owl._ (_Strix Bubo_, LINN.; _Le Grand Duc_, BUFF.)—This bird is not much inferior in size to an eagle. Its head is very large, and is adorned with two tufts, more than two inches long, which stand just above each eye, its bill is strong and much hooked; the eyes large, and of a bright yellow; the whole plumage is of a rusty brown, finely variegated with black and yellow lines, spots, and specks; its belly is ribbed with bars of brown colour, confusedly intermixed; its tail is short, marked with dusky bars; its legs are strong, and covered to the claws with a thick close down, of a rust colour; its claws are large, much hooked, and of a dusky colour. Its nest is large, being nearly three feet in diameter; it is composed of sticks bound together by fibrous roots, and lined with leaves. It generally lays two eggs, somewhat larger than those of a hen, and variegated like the bird itself. The young ones are very voracious, and are well supplied with various kinds of food by the parents. This bird has been found, though rarely, in Great Britain; it builds its nest in the caverns of rocks, in mountains, and almost inaccessible places, and is seldom seen on the plains, or perched on trees; it feeds on young hares, rabbits, rats, mice, and reptiles of various kinds.
_The Long-eared Owl._ (_Horn Owl_, _Strix Otus_, LINN.; _Le Hibou_, BUFF.)—Its length is fourteen inches; breadth, somewhat more than three feet. Its bill is black; irides of a bright yellow; the radiated circle round each eye is of a light cream colour, in some parts tinged with red; between the bill and the eye there is a circular streak, of a dark brown colour; another circle of a dark rusty brown entirely surrounds the face; its horns or ears consist of six feathers, closely laid together, of a dark brown colour, tipped and edged with yellow; the upper part of the body is beautifully pencilled with fine streaks of white, rusty, and brown; the breast and neck are yellow, finely marked with dusky streaks, pointing downwards; the belly, thighs, and vent feathers are of a light cream colour; upon each wing there are four or five large white spots; the quill and tail feathers are marked with dusky and reddish bars: the legs are feathered down to the claws, which are very sharp; the outer claw is movable, and may be turned backwards.
This bird is common in various parts of Europe, as well as in this country; its usual haunts are in old ruined buildings, in rocks, and in hollow trees. M. Buffon observes, that it seldom constructs a nest of its own, but not unfrequently occupies that of the magpie: it lays four or five eggs; the young are at first white, but acquire their natural colour in about fifteen days.
_The Short-eared Owl._ (_Strix Brachyotus_, PHIL. TRANS. vol. 62, p. 384.)—Length fourteen inches; breadth three feet. The head is small, and hawklike; bill dusky; the irides are of a bright yellow, and when the pupil is contracted, shine like gold; the circle round each eye is of a dirty white, with dark streaks pointing outwards; immediately round the eye there is a circle of black; the two horns or ears consist of not more than three feathers, of a pale brown or tawny colour, with a dark streak in the middle of each; the whole upper part of the body is variously marked with dark brown and tawny, the feathers are mostly edged with the latter; the breast and belly are of a pale yellow, marked with dark longitudinal streaks, which are most numerous on the breast: the legs and feet are covered with feathers of a pale yellow colour; the claws are much hooked and black: the wings are long, and extend beyond the tail; the quills are marked with alternate bars of a dusky and pale brown; the tail is likewise marked with bars of the same colours, and the middle feathers are distinguished by a dark spot in the centre of the yellow space; the tip is white. Of several of these birds, both male and female, with which this work has been favoured, both sexes had the upright tufts or ears: in one which was alive, they were very conspicuous, and appeared more erect while the bird remained undisturbed; but, when frightened, were scarcely to be seen: in the dead birds they were hardly descernible.
Mr. Pennant seems to be the first describer of this rare and beautiful species, which he supposes to be a bird of passage, as it only visits us in the latter part of the year, and disappears in the spring. It flies by day, and sometimes is seen in companies: twenty eight were once counted in a turnip-field in November. It is found chiefly in wooded or mountainous countries: its food is principally field-mice.
_The Female Horned Owl._—This bird is somewhat larger than the former; the colours and marks were the same, but much darker, and the spots on the breast larger and more numerous; the ears were not discernible. Being a dead bird, and having not seen any other at the time, the editors suppose it to be a distinct kind; but having since seen several both males and females, they are convinced of the mistake.