Part 66
_The White Owl_, _Barn Owl_, _Church Owl_, _Gillihowt_, _Screech Owl_, (_Strix Flammea_, LINN.; _L’Effraie, ou, La Fresaie_, BUFF.)—Length fourteen inches. Bill pale horn colour; eyes dark; the radiated circle round the eye is composed of feathers of the most delicate softness, and perfectly white; the head, back, and wings, are of a pale chestnut, beautifully powdered with very fine grey and brown spots, intermixed with white; the breast, belly, and thighs, are white; on the former are a few dark spots: the legs are feathered down to the toes, which are covered with short hairs; the wings extend beyond the tail, which is short, and marked with alternate bars of dusky and white; the claws are white. Birds of this kind vary considerably: of several which were in the hands of the editors, the differences were very conspicuous, the colours being more or less faint according to the age of the bird; the breast in some was white, without spots, in others pale yellow.
The white owl is well known, and is often seen in the most populous towns, frequenting churches, old houses, maltings, and other uninhabited buildings, where it continues during the day, and leaves its haunts in the twilight in quest of its prey. It has obtained the name of screech owl from its cries, repeated at intervals, and rendered loud and frightful from the stillness of the night. During its repose it makes a blowing noise, resembling the snoring of a man. It makes no nest, but deposits its eggs in the holes of walls, and lays five or six, of a whitish colour. It feeds on mice and small birds, which it swallows whole, and afterwards emits the bones, feathers, and other indigestible parts, at its mouth, in the form of small round cakes, which are often found in the empty buildings it frequents.
_The Tawny Owl_, _Common Brown Ivy Owl_, or _Howlet_. (_Strix stridula_, LINN.; _Le Chat-huant_, BUFF.)—This bird is about the size of the last. Its bill is white; eyes dark blue; the radiated feathers round the eyes are white, finely streaked with brown; the head, neck, back, wing coverts, and scapulars, are of a tawny brown colour, finely powdered and spotted with dark brown and black; on the wing coverts and scapulars are several large white spots, regularly placed so as to form three rows; the quill feathers are marked with alternate bars of light and dark brown; the breast and belly are of a pale yellow, marked with narrow dark streaks pointing downwards, and crossed with others of the same colour; the legs are feathered down to the toes; the claws are large, much hooked, and white. This species is found in various parts of Europe; it frequents woods, and builds its nest in the hollows of trees.
_The Little Owl._ (_Strix passerina_, LINN.; _La Chevêche, ou Petite Chouette_, BUFF.)—This is the smallest of the owl kind, not being larger than a blackbird. Its bill is brown at the base, and of a yellow colour at the tip; eyes pale yellow; the circular feathers on the face are white, tipped with black; the upper part of the body is of an olive brown colour; the top of the head and wing coverts are spotted with white; the breast and belly white, spotted with brown; the feathers of the tail are barred with rust colour and brown, and tipped with white; the legs are covered with down of a rusty colour mixed with white; the toes and claws are of a brownish colour. It frequents rocks and caverns and ruined buildings, and builds its nest, which is constructed in the rudest manner, in the most retired places; it lays five eggs, spotted with white and yellow. It sees better in the day time than other nocturnal birds, and gives chase to swallows and other small birds on the wing; it likewise feeds on mice, which it tears in pieces with its bill and claws, and swallows them by morsels; it is said to pluck the birds which it kills before it eats them, in which it differs from the other owls. It is rarely met with in England; it is sometimes found in Yorkshire, Flintshire, and in the neighbourhood of London.
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Having some acquaintance with a tame brown owl, I find that it casts up the fur of mice, and the feathers of birds in pellets, after the manner of hawks; when full, like a dog, it hides what it cannot eat.
The young of the barn-owl are not easily raised, as they want a constant supply of fresh mice: whereas the young of the brown owl will eat indiscriminately all that is brought; snails, rats, kittens, puppies, magpies, and any kind of carrion or offal.—_Bewick_—_White’s Selborne._
OWLER, _s._ One who catches owls. OWLING, Owl catching.
OWLERY, _s._ A place where owls are kept.
_The Owlery at Arundel Castle._—We were unwilling to leave this venerable castle without the sight of the owls, which are said to be the finest in Great Britain. We were introduced to an utterly ruined part of the ancient castle, where, upon entering the inclosure, we saw a number of these strange looking creatures, hopping about with an ungraceful gait, and staring at us with looks of wonderful sagacity. One stood at the mouth of a subterraneous excavation, and upon the keeper pronouncing “bow, wow,” the owl instantly returned the expression, retiring at the same time back again into his hole, till it actually got out of sight. The other owls were driven by the keeper into one corner of the yard; they ranged themselves along a piece of old timber, altogether presenting a spectacle which raised in my mind some singular emotions. The countenance of the largest of them was marked by an unusual degree of solemnity.
These owls are the finest of the horned kind, and the keeper showed no small pride in the exhibition of them. “Beauty, Beauty,” was the name by which he called them together, and they seemed to recognise the propriety of the appellation with a becoming consciousness. Upon the justness of this term, however, the keeper and myself were by no means agreed.
With respect to the sight of the owls, they are so overpowered by the brightness of the day, that they are obliged to remain in the same spot without stirring; and when they are forced to leave their retreat, their flight is tardy and interrupted, being afraid of striking against the intervening obstacles. The other birds, perceiving their constrained situation, delight to insult them: the titmouse, the finch, the redbreast, the jay, the thrush, &c. assemble to enjoy the sport. The bird of night remains perched upon a branch, motionless and confounded; hears their cries, which are incessantly repeated, but it answers them only with insignificant gestures, turning round its head and its body with a foolish air. It even suffers itself to be assaulted without making resistance; the smallest, the weakest of its enemies, are the most eager to torment and turn it into ridicule. The keep in which the owls are shown is an undoubted remnant of the original Saxon building, and well worth the attention of the antiquary.
This owlery is thus spoken of by another visiter: “The owls, which are still to be seen, are uncommonly elegant birds, and extremely large, some of them measuring across the wings, when extended, from eight to ten feet. Their plumage is particularly beautiful, and their eyes brilliant. The late duke procured them from North America.”—_Evans._
OX, _s._ The general name for black cattle; a castrated bull.
OXALIC ACID, _s._ Is extracted from wood sorrel, or from sugar combined with potash. It is commonly sold under the name of salt of lemon, and is useful in removing stains from linen, cleaning boot-tops, &c. It is a deadly poison, and in appearance like Epsom salts. As oxalic acid is a necessary article in a hunting establishment, too great care cannot be taken to prevent those unhappy results which have arisen from mistaking it for Epsom salts, which it so strikingly resembles.
OXFLY, _s._ A kind of fly.
OYSTER, _s._ A bivalve testaceous fish. Oysters are taken by a small bag-net extended on an iron frame, which, like the trawl, is swept along the ground by a sailing or row boat.
PACE, _s._ Step, single movement in walking; gait, manner of walking; degree of celerity; a particular movement which horses are taught, though some have it naturally, made by lifting the legs on the same side together; amble.
PACE, _v._ To move on slowly.
PACK, _s._ A large bundle of anything tied up for carriage; a burden; a due number of cards; a number of hounds hunting together; a covey or brood of grouse.
PACK, _v._ To bind up for carriage; to sort the cards so that the game shall be iniquitously secured. Birds are said to pack where several broods collect together. This is particularly the case with grouse and black game.
PACKHORSE, _s._ A horse of burden, a horse employed in carrying goods.
PAD, _s._ A footpath; an easy-paced horse; a low soft saddle.
PADDLE, _v._ To row; to beat water as with oars; to play in the water.
PADDLE, _s._ An oar, particularly that which is used by a single rower in a boat; anything broad like the end of an oar.
PADDOCK, _s._ A great frog or toad; a small enclosure for pasture.
PANCREAS, _s._ The sweetbread.
PAR, _s._ A fish.
The natural history of the samlet, or par, is very doubtful. Some assert it to be a mule produced by the salmon and trout, and as a corroboration of this theory, it is stated that the rivers where the par is found are always resorted to by salmon. Others conjecture it to be a hybrid of the sea and river trout; and Sir Humphry Davy mentions, that fishing in October, in a small stream communicating with the Moy, near Ballina, he caught a number of sea trout, who all proved males, and accordingly infers that “these fish, in which the spermatic system was fully developed, could only have impregnated the ova of the common river trout.”
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The par differs from the small mountain trout in colour, and in having additional spines in the pectoral fin. It has also certain olive-bluish marks upon the side, similar to impressions made by the pressure of a man’s fingers.
Great numbers of samlet are found in the upper streams of the Ballycroy river. They will rise voraciously at a fly, provided it be gay and small enough. I remember my friend Sir Charles Cuyler and I amused ourselves on a blank shooting day, when there was neither a sufficiency of wind nor water to warrant salmon fishing, in angling for this hybridous diminutive. We nearly filled our basket; we reckoned them, and they amounted to above two hundred.—_Wild Sports._
PARTRIDGE, (_Tetrao Perdix_, LINN.; _Le Perdrix Grise_, BUFF.) _s._ A bird of game.
The length of this bird is about thirteen inches. The bill is light brown; eyes hazel; the general colour of its plumage is brown and ash, elegantly mixed with black; each feather is streaked down the middle with buff colour; the sides of the head are tawny; under each eye there is a small saffron-coloured spot, which has a granulated appearance, and between the eye and the ear a naked skin of a bright scarlet, which is not very conspicuous but in old birds; on the breast there is a crescent of a deep chestnut colour; the tail is short; the legs are of a greenish white; and are furnished with a small knob behind. The female has no crescent on the breast, and her colours in general are not so distinct and bright as those of the male. Partridges are found chiefly in temperate climates; the extremes of heat and cold are equally unfavourable to them, they are nowhere in greater plenty than in this island, where, in their season, they contribute to our most elegant entertainments. It is much to be lamented, however, that the means taken to preserve this valuable bird should, in a variety of instances, prove its destruction: the proper guardians of the eggs and young ones, tied down by ungenerous restrictions, are led to consider them as a growing evil, and not only connive at their destruction, but too freely assist in it.
Partridges pair early in the spring; the female lays from fourteen to eighteen, or twenty eggs, making her nest of dry leaves and grass upon the ground. The young birds learn to run as soon as hatched, frequently encumbered with part of the shell sticking to them. It is no uncommon thing to introduce partridges’ eggs under the common hen, who hatches and rears them as her own, in this case the young birds require to be fed with ants’ eggs, which are their favourite food, and without which it is almost impossible to bring them up; they likewise eat insects, and when full grown, feed on all kinds of grain and young plants. The affection of the partridge for her young is peculiarly strong and lively; she is greatly assisted in the care of rearing them by her mate; they lead them out in common, call them together, point out to them their proper food, and assist them in finding it by scratching the ground with their feet; they frequently sit close to each other, covering the chickens with their wings like the hen. In this situation they are not easily flushed; the sportsman, who is attentive to the preservation of his game, will carefully avoid giving any disturbance to a scene so truly interesting, but should the pointer come too near, or unfortunately run in upon them, there are few who are ignorant of the confusion that follows; the male first gives the signal of alarm by a peculiar cry of distress, throwing himself at the same moment more immediately into the way of danger. In order to deceive or mislead the enemy he flies, or rather runs, along the ground, hanging his wings, and exhibiting every symptom of debility, whereby the dog is decoyed, in the too eager expectation of an easy prey, to a distance from the covey; the female flies off in a contrary direction and to a greater distance, but returning soon after by secret ways, she finds her scattered brood closely squatted among the grass, and collecting them with haste she leads them from the danger, before the dog has had time to return from his pursuit. _Vide_ SHOOTING.
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A hen partridge came out of a ditch, and ran along shivering with her wings, and crying out as if wounded and unable to get from us. While the dam acted this distress, the boy who attended me saw her brood, which was small and unable to fly, run for shelter into an old fox-earth under the bank. So wonderful a power is instinct.
It is not uncommon to see an old partridge feign itself wounded, and run along on the ground fluttering and crying before either dog or man, to draw them away from its helpless unfledged young ones. I have seen it often, and once in particular I saw a remarkable instance of the old bird’s solicitude to save its brood. As I was hunting with a young pointer, the dog ran on a brood of very small partridges; the old bird cried, fluttered, and ran tumbling along just before the dog’s nose till she had drawn him to a considerable distance, when she took wing and flew still farther off, but not out of the field: on this the dog returned to me, near the place the young ones lay concealed in the grass, which the old bird no sooner perceived than she flew back again to us, settled just before the dog’s nose again, and by rolling and tumbling about drew off his attention from her young, and thus preserved her brood a second time. I have also seen, when a kite has been hovering over a covey of young partridges, the old birds fly up at the bird of prey, screaming and fighting with all their might to preserve their brood.
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Partridges manifest great caution in choosing the place where they intend having their nest. I have observed them to remain near the same spot for some weeks before the female lays her eggs; and if in the mean time they should discover the retreat of any animal in the neighbourhood, who is likely to be injurious to them, they shift their quarters. I have generally noticed that partridges lodge themselves at night near the middle of a field, probably being aware that they are safer in this situation from the attacks of stoats or weasels, than if they got nearer hedges, under the roots or banks of which these animals conceal themselves.—_Bewick_—_White of Selborne_—_Markwick._
PASSERINE ORDER, _s._ Birds of the sparrow tribe.
This numerous class constitutes the fifth order in Mr. Pennant’s arrangement of British birds, and includes a great variety of different kinds: of these we have detached the stare, the thrush, and the chatterer, and have joined them to the pies, to which they seem to have a greater affinity. Those which follow are distinguished by their lively and active disposition, their beautiful plumage, and delightful melody. Of this order consist those amazing flocks of small birds of almost every description—those numerous families, which universally diffused throughout every part of the known world, people the woods, the fields, and even the largest and most populous cities, in countless multitudes, and every where enliven, diversify, and adorn the face of nature.
The characters of the Passerine order, which are as various as their habits and dispositions, will be best seen in the description of each particular species. It may be necessary, however, to observe, that they naturally divide themselves into two distinct kinds, namely, the hard-billed or seed birds, and the slender or soft-billed birds; the former are furnished with stout bills of a conical shape, and very sharp at the point, admirably fitted for the purpose of breaking the hard external coverings of the seeds of plants from their kernels, which constitute the principal part of their food; the latter are remarkable for the softness and delicacy of their bills; their food consists altogether of small worms, insects, the larvæ of insects, and their eggs, which they find deposited in immense profusion on the leaves and bark of trees, in chinks and crevices of stones, and even in small masses on the bare ground, so that there is hardly a portion of matter that does not contain a plentiful supply of food for this diligent race of beings.—_Bewick._
PASTERN, _s._ The distance between the joint next the foot and the coronet of a horse.
PASTURAGE, _s._ The business of feeding cattle; lands grazed by cattle; the use of pasture.
PEACOCK, _s._ A fowl eminent for the beauty of his feathers, and particularly of his tail.
The peacock and peahen are always kept by the London dealers, whence any person in the country, desirous of breeding them, may be supplied with breeding stock. Exclusive of the consideration of ornament to a poultry-yard, the peacock is very useful for the destruction of all kinds of reptiles, but at the same time some peacocks are said to be vicious, and apt to tear to pieces and devour young chicks and ducklings, suffered to be within their reach. They are also destructive in a garden.
It is asserted by the ancient writers, that the first peacock was honoured with a public exhibition at Athens; that many people travelled thither from Macedonia, to be spectators of that beautiful phenomenon, the paragon of the feathered race. It is probable the ancients, as well as the moderns, introduced the peacock upon the table, rather as an ornament than a viand. There are varieties of this bird, some white: they perch on trees, like the turkey. Their age extends to twenty years, and at three, the tail of the cock is full and complete. The cock requires from two to four hens, and, where the country agrees with them, they are very prolific. They are granivorous like other domestic fowls, preferring barley.—_Moubray._
PECK, _s._ The fourth part of a bushel; the stroke of a bird’s bill.
PECK, _v._ To strike with the beak as a bird; to pick up food with the beak.
PELICAN (_Pelicanus_, LINN.), _s._ There are two sorts of pelicans, one lives upon fish, the other keeps in deserts, and feeds upon serpents; the pelican is supposed to admit its young to suck blood from its breast.
The bill of this genus is long and straight; the end either hooked or sloping; the nostrils placed in a furrow that runs along the sides of the bill, and in most of the species not distinguishable. The face generally destitute of feathers, being covered only with a bare skin: gullet naked, and capable of great distension: body long, heavy, flat: legs placed far backward; toes four in number, and all webbed together.
Latham, following the example of Linnæus, includes the pelican, man-of-war bird, cormorant, shag, gannet, and booby, in this genus, of which he enumerates thirty distinct species, and two varieties; four only of this number, and one variety, are British birds. In confining the present account to these, it is proper to remark that they are not the inhabitants of this country only, but are widely dispersed over the globe, being met with in almost every climate which navigators have visited, whether temperate, hot, or cold. The gannet only is migratory, large flocks of this species arrive in the spring of the year, and disperse themselves in colonies over the rocky promontories of Scotland, and its isles, in various parts of which they breed and rear their young, and as soon as that office is performed, they retire in the autumn to their unknown abodes. Their return each season points out also that of the shoals of the herrings, which they hover over, pursue, and chiefly feed upon. These shoals, at that season of increasing warmth, are poured forth on their southern route, gliding forward in wide glittering columns of myriads upon myriads, from the unknown but prolific regions of the northern pole. These prodigious shoals with their divisions and subdivisions, in their branched course around the British isles, are attended by the gannet. On our southern coasts the pilchard affords these birds another supply of food, in pursuit of which they are enticed as far southward as the Mediterranean sea.
The cormorant and the shag remain with us throughout the year, but particularly on our more northern shores, upon whose rocky shelving precipices they station themselves, and perform the offices of incubation, while stragglers occasionally taking a wider range, with outstretched neck and vigorous wing sweep along the coast, and entering the mouths of the rivers, follow their course in quest of food, to the lakes inland.—_Bewick._
PELLET, _s._ A little ball; a bullet, a ball.
PERCH, _s._ A measure of five yards and a half; a pole; something on which birds roost or sit; a kind of fish peculiar to ponds and rivers.
Perch have one particularity, which is contrary to the nature of all fish of prey in fresh water (and they are so voracious as to attack their own kind), that they are gregarious, swimming in shoals. The body of the perch is deep, the scales very rough, the back much arched, and the side-line approaches near it: the irides are golden, the teeth small, disposed in the jaws and on the roof of the mouth, which is large; the edges of the cover of the gills serrated, on the lower end of the largest in a sharp spine, and the head is said to consist of no fewer than eighty bones; the colours of the perch are beautiful, the back and part of the sides being of a deep green, marked with broad black bars pointing downwards; the belly is white, tinged red; the ventral fins of a rich scarlet; the anal fins and tail (which is a little forked,) of the same colour but rather paler.