Bible animals

by J. G. Wood

THE OWL.

"I am a companion to owls."—Job. xxx. 29.

The reader may remember that even our very imperfect version of the "Arabian Nights" repeatedly alludes to this belief, the evil spirit being almost invariably represented as dwelling in ruins, rocky places, and the interiors of wells.

Although it is very possible that the prophet may have referred to some of the mythological beings which were so universally supposed to inhabit deserted spots, and thus to have employed the word lilith as a term which he did not intend to be taken otherwise than metaphorically, it is equally possible that some nocturnal bird may have been meant, and in that case the bird in question must almost certainly have been an Owl of some kind. As to the particular species of Owl, that is a question which cannot be satisfactorily answered, especially as so many scholars find reason to doubt whether the word lilith represents an Owl, or indeed any ordinary inhabitant of earth. As, therefore, we have no data whereon to found a positive opinion, the question will be allowed to remain an open one.

The last word which is translated as Owl is kippoz, and occurs in ch. xxxiv. 15: "There shall the great owl make her nest."

Many Hebraists think that in this case the word kippoz is a mere clerical error for kippod, or hedgehog, and have translated the passage accordingly. The Septuagint and the Vulgate follow this reading; Buxtorf, in his Hebrew Lexicon, translates kippoz as Thrush, deriving the name from the dipping character of its flight. The Jewish Bible, following several other authorities, renders the word as "arrow-snake," while several scholars translate it as "darting serpent." This interpretation, however, is scarcely tenable, as the description of the Kippoz as making its nest, laying its eggs, and gathering them under its shadow, clearly points to a bird, and not a reptile. It is very true that the boa or python snake has been seen to coil itself round a heap of its eggs, but the sacred writer could hardly have had many opportunities of seeing such an act, while the custom of a bird gathering her young under the shadow of her wings must have been perfectly familiar to him. There is, moreover, the fact that the context speaks of the vultures, so that a bird of some kind was evidently in the mind of the writer. Mr. Tristram suggests that the Kippoz might be intended for the Scops Owl, called Marouf by the Arabs, and which is very common about ruins, caves, and the old walls of towns. Its note is well represented by the word kippoz.

"It is a migrant, returning to Palestine in spring. It is the smallest owl in the country, being little more than seven inches in length, with long ear-tufts, and its whole plumage most delicately mottled and speckled with grey and light brown."

This species is very plentiful on the continent of Europe, though it is rare in the British Isles. It feeds, as might be presumed from its diminutive size, on mice, small reptiles, and insects. Its scientific name, according to the nomenclature of the British Museum, is Ephialtes Scops.

THE NIGHT-HAWK.

Different interpretations of the word Tachmâs—Probability that it signifies the Nightjar—Various names of the bird—Its remarkable jarring cry, and wheeling flight—Mode of feeding—Boldness of the bird—Deceptive appearance of its size.