CHAP. 16.—THE HORNED OWL.
The birds of the night also have crooked talons, such as the
owlet, [Note] the horned owl, and the screech-owl, for instance; the
sight of all of which is defective in the day-time. The horned
owl is especially funereal, and is greatly abhorred in all auspices
of a public nature: it inhabits deserted places, and not only
desolate spots, but those of a frightful and inaccessible nature:
the monster of the night, its voice is heard, not with any tuneful note, but emitting a sort of shriek. Hence it is that it is
looked upon as a direful omen to see it in a city, or even so much
as in the day-time. I know, however, for a fact, that it is
not portentous of evil when it settles on the top of a private
house. It cannot fly whither it wishes in a straight line, but
is always carried along by a sidelong movement. A horned
owl entered the very sanctuary of the Capitol, in the consulship of Sextus Palpelius Hister and L. Pedanius; in consequence of which, Rome was purified on the nones [Note] of March
in that year.
