Cum nemus omne suo viridi spoliatur honore,
Fultus equi niveis silvas pete protinus altas
Exuviis praeda est facilis et amoena scolopax.
Corpore non Paphiis avibus maiore videbis
Illa sub aggeribus primis, qua proluit humor,
Pascitur, exiguos sectans obsonia vermes.
At non illa oculis, quibus est obtusior, etsi
Sint nimium grandes, sed acutis naribus instat;
Impresso in terram rostri mucrone sequaces
Vermiculos trahit et vili dat praemia vitae.

-NEMES. (?), Anth. Lat. 884.

For discussion of authorship vid. Rhen. Mus. 52, p. 457.

Tread softly now, Carlo! The woodcock is here;
He rises his long bill thrust out like a spear.-STREET.

When but a brown snipe flutters by

With rustling wing and piping cry.-MAURICE THOMPSON.

The woodcock whirrs by bush and brake.

-BROWNELL.

The lonely snipe

O'er marshy fields, high in the dusky air

Invisible, but with faint, tremulous tones,

Hovering or playing o'er the listener's head.-WILCOX.

From yon grove the woodcock rises,

Mark her progress by her notes;

High in air her wings she poises,

Then like lightning down she shoots.

As thick as pine trees in the wood,

-BLEECKER (Kettell).

-BIGELOW (?).

Or snipes on Jersey shore.

(Eolopoesis.)

The snipe darts from it like an arrow.-STreet.

And the tilting snipe stood fearless of the truants wayward cry
And the splashing of the swimmer, in the days gone by.

-RILEY.

Watch the snipes and killdees foolin' half the day.-RILEY.

Or give me the marsh, with the brown snipe aflush,
And my gun's sudden flashes and resonant din.

When but a brown snipe flutters by

-MAURICE THOMPSON.

With rustling wing and piping cry.-MAURICE THOMPSON.

SPINTURNICIUM.

one of the smaller owls.

Σπινθαρίς An unknown bird. Possibly

A comparison, which seems to suggest the habits of an owl:

Pithecium haec est prae illa et spinturnicium

Viden tu illam oculis venaturum facere atque aucupium
-PLAUT., Mil. Glor. 989.

auribus?

Cf. Fest. 330. Spinthurnix est avis genus turpis figurae, ea Graece dicitur, ut ait Santra, oлvdagís. Vid. also Plin. X, 13, 17; Baehrens, P. L. M., p. 52.

Whippoorwill and owlet-things,

Whose far call before you brings
Wonder-worlds of happenings.—CAwEIN.

STRIX. Σroi, et al.
Στρίξ,

Vid. Plin. XI, 95.

Cawein: The Owlet.

An Owl. Exact species indeterminate.

A bit of folklore combining references to harpies, witches and night owls, with some description of the latter, a derivation and an incantation:

Sunt avidae volucres, non quae Phineia mensis
Guttura fraudabant, sed genus inde trahunt:
Grande caput, stantes oculi, rostra apta rapinis,
Canities pinnis, unguibus hamus inest.
Nocte volant puerosque petunt nutricis egentes
Et vitiant cunis corpora rapta suis.

Est illis strigibus nomen, sed nominis huius
Causa, quod horrenda stridere nocte solent.
Sive igitur nascuntur aves seu carmine fiunt
Naeniaque in volucres Marsa figurat anus:

'Noctis aves, extis puerilibus,' inquit
Parcite: pro parvo victima parva cadit.
Cor pro corde, precor, pro fibris sumite fibras.
Hanc animam vobis pro meliore damus.'
-Ov., Fast. VI, 131 ff.

Cf. Ov., Am. I, 8, 13; Prop. IV, 5, 17.

The strix in magic and incantations:

Iubet sepulcris caprificos erutas,

Iubet cupressos funebres,
Et uncta turpis ova ranae sanguine,
Plumamque nocturnae strigis.

-HOR., Epod. V, 17.

Addit et exceptas luna pernocte pruinas
Et strigis infamis ipsis cum carnibus, alas.

-Ov., Met. VII, 268.

A nest of vipers, mix'd with adders foul;

The screeching night-bird, and the greater owl.

(The Anarchiad.)

-HUMPHREYS, BARLOW, HOPKINS,
TRUMBULL.

Serpents and caw-caws and bats,

Screech-owls and crickets and adders

These were the guides of that witch

Through the dank deeps of the forest.-FIELD.

The screech-owl's voice makes wild the breeze.
Mourn, mourn, thou feathered witch

Above the frozen ditch!-CAWEIN.
(Nature-Notes.)

The accursed birds of Hades:

Palus inertis foeda Cocyti iacet;
Hic vultur, illic luctifer bubo gemit,
Omenque triste resonat infaustaeque strigis:
Horrent opaca fronde nigrantes comae,
Taxo imminente, quam tenet segnis Sopor.

-SEN., Herc. Fur. 686.

Nor barking Satyrs breathe, nor dreary clouds
Exhaled from Styx, their dismal drops distill
Within these fairy, flowery fields, nor shrouds
The screeching night raven, with his shady quill.
-JOHN ROGERS.

Where once was nought but desert, howling,

And swamps, scarce fit to pasture owl in.-FESSENDEN.

Within, the screech-owl made her mournful home,
And birds obscene that hover round the tomb.

With thrilling shrieks his dirge the Death-owl sings,
And birds ill-omen'd flap their dusky wings.-ALSOP.

With thee to guide my steps I'll creep

In some old haunted nook to sleep,
Lull'd by the dreary night-bird's scream,
That flits along the wizard stream,

And there, till morning 'gins appear,

The tales of troubled spirits hear.-CLIFFton.

A yewtree in Hades the abode of the accursed birds:

Dextra vasta comas nemorosaque bracchia fundit
Taxus, Cocyti rigua frondosior unda.

His dirae volucres pastusque cadavere vultur
Et multus bubo ac sparsis strix sanguine pennis
Harpyiaeque fovent nidos atque omnibus haerent
Condensae foliis; saevit stridoribus arbor.

-SIL. ITAL. XIII, 595.

Another accursed tree with the same birds:

'Illa dedit turpes raucis bubonibus umbras
Vulturis in ramis et strigis ova tulit.

-Ov., Am. I, 12, 19.

Deep thro' the turnings of a darksome vale,

Where blasted trunks hung from th' impending steep,

Where oft was heard the owl's wild dreary wail.

-ALEXANDER WILSON.

Was it the owl, the koko-koko,

Hooting from the dismal forest?-LONGFELLOW.

The ill-omened note of the strix:

Hanc volitent animae circum sua fata querentes
Semper, et e tectis strix violenta canat.

-TIB. I, 5, 51.

Omenque triste resonat infaustae strigis.

-SEN., Herc. Fur. 688.

Resounding with the sad noises of the night owl.-WHITMAN.

Wail, wail, thou bird of ill omén,

Within thy freezing glen!

Screech, screech through all the frosty night

Where gleams the cold moonlight!

(Nature-Notes.)

-CAWEIN.

Quod trepidus bubo, quod strix nocturna queruntur.

-Luc. VI, 686.

Monstra volant, dirae strident in nube volucres
Nocturnaeque gemunt striges et feralia bubo

Damna canens.

-STAT., Theb. III, 510.

-Anth. Lat. 762, 39.

Strix nocturna sonans et vespertilio stridunt.

And bat and owl above his head

From out their gloomy caverns swing.-Miller.

The bat and owl inhabit these.-Lowell.

STURNUS. áo. Starling.

Sturnus vulgaris.

American parallels: The meadow-lark, red-winged blackbird, and the rusty and purple grackles furnish some points of contact as to habits and folk observation.

Cf. Holbrook, op. cit., p. 280 for comparison of Dante, Inf. V, 31 and Verg., Aen. VI, 308 (cf. Plin. X, 24; Hudson, op. cit., p. 156).

The bird commonly called the Meadow Lark with us is more nearly related to the Starling of this country (England) than to any other bird. I was particularly surprised that a low note, resembling the noise made. by a wheel not well greased, was precisely the same in both, that the style