FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE'S OWL.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—It was an odd coincidence that on the day after the announcement of Florence Nightingale's death Ikshould have read of her the following incident. It is to be found in Vol. I., p. 202, of Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff's "Notes from a Diary," under the date July 20th, 1862. As it will appeal to all lovers of animals, I think it worth transcribing for the Spectator. Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff had spent the day mentioned at Claydon, Sir Harry Verney's house. He
proceeds :-
" Lady Verney is Miss Nightingale's sister, and one of the curiosities of the house is a manuscript by Lady Verney describing the life and adventures of her sister's owl Athena, which, bought for 6 lepta from some children into whose hands it had dropped out of its nest in the Parthenon, was brought by Miss Nightingale to Trieste, with a slip of a plane from the Ilissus and a cicala. At Vienna the owl ate the cicala and was mesmerised, much to the improvement of his temper. At Prague a waiter was heard to say that 'this is the bird which all English ladies carry with them, because it tells them when they are to die.' It came to England by Berlin, lived at Embley, Sea Hurst, and in London, travelled in Germany, and stayed at Carlsbad while its mistress was at Kaiserwertla. It died the very day she was to have started for Scutari (her departure was delayed two days), 'and the only tear that she shed during that tremendous week was when — put the little body into her hand.' Poor little beastie,' she said, ' it was odd how much I loved you.
St. Mary Church.
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