Butler, Hudibras, II. iii. 707 (1664).
The death of Augustus was presaged by an owl singing [screeching] upon the top of the Curia.--Xiphilinus, Abridgment of Dion Cassius.
The death of Commŏdus Antonius, the emperor, was forboded by an owl sitting on the top of his chamber, at Lanuvium.--Julius Obsequens, Prodigies, 85.
The murder of Julius Cæsar was presaged by the screeching of owls.
The bird of night did sit,
Even at noonday, upon the market-place,
Hooting and shrieking.
Shakespeare, Julius Cæsar, act i. sc. 3 (1607).
The death of Valentinian was presaged by an owl, which perched on the top of a house where he used to bathe.--Alexander Boss, Arcana Microcosmi.
Antony was warned of his defeat in the battle of Actium by an owl flying into the temple of Concord.--Xiphilinus, Abridgment of Dion Cassius.