appointed at Exeter, in 1688, to manage the resources of the Prince of Orange as Sovereign of England. He was constituted one of the Lords Justices of Ireland in 1697. In 1706 he was placed on a commission for settling the terms of the Union between Scotland and England. In 1714 he was elected Knight of the Garter, and three years later was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He died in 1722, at the age of 62, and was succeeded by his son and heir, 1722. Charles 3rd Duke, 8th Marquis and Earl. He like his father served in several high offices of State; but perhaps is better known as the nobleman who first raised an actress from the boards of the theatre to the high level of the Peerage, in the person of the celebrated Lavinia Beswick, alias Fenton, who as the Polly Peacham of Gay's Beggars' Opera, was then charming the world of fashion. She died Duchess of Bolton in 1760. The Duke himself died in 1754, without issue, when the estates and honours passed to his brother and heir, 1754. Harry Pawlet, 4th Duke, 9th Marquis and Earl, who had before his brother's death represented Southampton in five successive Parliaments. Dying in 1759, he was succeeded by his son and heir, 1759. Charles Paulet, 5th Duke, 10th Marquis and Earl, K.B., who died in 1765, without lawful issue. The honours and estates then devolved upon his brother and heir, 1765. Harry Paulet, 6th and last Duke of Bolton, eleventh Marquis and Earl, &c., an Admiral of the white. This nobleman died in 1794, leaving no male issue, and the Dukedom consequently became extinct.1 But the Marquisate and Earldom reverted 1 Bolton Castle, with a great part of the Duke's other estates, thereupon devolved, by virtue of an entail created by the preceding Duke, on Jane Mary his natural daughter, wife of Thomas Orde; who by Royal license assumed the name of Powlett, and, in October 1797, was created Baron Bolton, of Bolton Castle in the county of York. His Lordship died in 1807, and was succeeded by his son William Orde Powlett, 2nd Baron Bolton, and the present possessor of Bolton Castle and Bolton Hall. Thus, it is remarkable, that these large estates so long the property of the Scropes of Bolton, have not been alienated by grant or sale since the time of Edward III., but are still owned by the blood of the to the next male heir, George Paulet, eighth and only surviving son of Norton Paulet, son and heir of Francis, eldest son of Lord Henry Pawlet, second son of William 4th Marquis of Winchester and Earl of Wiltshire. He died 22nd April 1800, and was succeeded by 1800. Charles Ingoldsby Burroughs Pawlett, son and heir, who died 29th November 1843, leaving as his successor in all honours his son and heir, 1843. John Paulet, present and 14th Marquis of Winchester, Earl of Wiltshire, and Baron St. John of Basing, in the Peerage of England, Premier Marquis of England, Hereditary bearer of the Cap of Maintenance, Lord Lieutenant of the County of Southampton, and Colonel of the North Hants Militia. The Arms borne by the Paulets, Earls of Wiltshire and Marquisses of Winchester have always been the family coat, viz.: Sable, three swords in pile argent, pomels and hilts or; with which the Duke of Bolton quartered the arms of Scrope (azure a bend or,) within a bordure or. Crest,-a Mailed arm proper, holding Motto,-" Aymez Loyaute." a sword, same as in coat. Most of the estates in Wiltshire held from an early period by this branch of the Paulet family, were long since alienated. The Manor of Longbridge Deverill was sold by William, first Earl and Marquis, 14th Elizabeth, to William Mullens, from whom it passed to the Ludlows, owners of the adjoining Manor of Hill Deverill.1 The Manor of Fisherton Delamere continued in the possession of the Earls of Wiltshire down to Henry eleventh Marquis and Earl, and sixth and last Duke of Bolton, who sold it, circa 1778, to Webb Seymour, Duke of Somerset. Scropes; having twice during that period been transmitted through natural daughters to their present possessor. The Hampshire estates of Basing and Hackwood, inherited from the St. Johns, passed likewise to Lord Bolton, together with those in Yorkshire. The mansion at Hackwood contains numerous portraits of the successive Earls of Wiltshire and Marquisses of Winchester of the Paulet blood. 1 Hoare's Hundred of Heytesbury, p. 41. On the Ornithology of Wilts. No. 7.-STRIGIDE (Owls). F the Eagle enjoyed distinction as the favourite of Jove, and its plume was sought for by the North American Indian, and by the Highland chief in Scotland, as a mark of nobility: or if the Hawk was held sacred by the Turks and Egyptians, and had respect shown to it alive or dead, and is still found embalmed in the mummy pits on the borders of the Nile; not a whit behind hand is the Owl in honour, consecrated by the most learned nation of old to their tutelary Deity, the Goddess of Wisdom. And indeed there is a great deal in the appearance, character, and habits of this bird to warrant such a distinction: there is such a remarkably wise expression in its face, it has such a dignified look, its movements are so deliberate, grave and solemn, that we are ready to agree with the Athenians, and to set down the Owl as the very emblem and personification of learning. And yet again, when we examine the bird, and observe the large facial disk, or ruff of feathers encircling the face, giving it the most grotesque appearance; while peeping forth from this circular fringe and almost buried in it, projects the short strong hooked beak: when we observe the large staring eyes, glaring forth so solemnly from their ruff, and the head so large and apparently so out of proportion, the figure before us is at once so grave and so ludicrous, so dignified and so grotesque, that we are in doubt whether to put it down. as a very wise or a very foolish bird. But apart from its appearance, very interesting is the whole family of owls, and well worthy of observation: plunderers though they are, and living by what they can murder, and that too not openly and by day, as the Falconidæ, but skulking along on noiseless wing, in the silence and darkness of night they are clever fellows too; aye, and noble withal, and much to be respected; then how sagacious they are, and how much they know to be sure if you look at one in broad daylight, when the sun dazzles and confounds him, he cuts but a sorry figure, but so would a man, were his powers of vision so keen and so sensitive; but observe him, when the shades of evening have fallen on the earth, how cunning, how thoughtful, how active he seems now, yet not restless or hurried in his movements, but deliberate and calm. All day long he will sit in his snug dark retreat, dozing away the hours of dazzling sunshine, to him so insupportable, snoring and dreaming as owls only can do; but no sooner has the sun gone down and twilight begun, than out comes the owl from its lurking place; gliding along in silence; hunting over the fields; dropping on a mouse, which any vision less keen would fail to discover; bearing it off to its nest; and returning again to its hunting ground; and thus ridding mankind of a vast number of this most destructive of little four-footed vermin. Now to enable the owls to effect this in the twilight, and even the dusk of night, they are furnished with several attributes peculiarly adapted to their requirements: thus their powers of sight and hearing are remarkably acute, as I have before observed; and in addition to this, their plumage is so soft and downy, and their wing feathers in particular so pliant, that in striking the air they offer the least possible opposition, and move along noiselessly, with a slow gentle and uniform motion; in which respect they differ widely from the flight of other birds, the flapping of whose wings may be heard, often at a considerable distance. But though of such signal service to mankind, and though enjoying such a reputation for wisdom, the poor owl is not looked upon with a friendly eye; on the contrary it is now, and always has been regarded with superstitious feelings by the inhabitants of this, as well as other countries: without doubt, its habits of seclusion by day, its spectre-like and noiseless movements by night, and its solemn appearance are the principal cause of this popular error: then its frequent lurking place, the church tower; its haunts, the churchyard and the neighbouring meadows: its ghostly and silent flittings; its wild unearthly and dismal shrick, coming suddenly on the belated peasant, combine to startle and terrify him into the belief that something ominous has occurred, and lead him to think that the owl bodes no good, and knows more than he ought, and portends calamity: and this idea is greatly strengthened by the strange pleasure which the bird seems to evince in singling out and hooting at the window of the sleepless and fever-racked invalid, a greeting ever dreaded as the unfailing forerunner of death, but which was only a scream of surprise, with which the bird testified its perception of the light burning in the sick man's room, and to which it was attracted from its hunting fields. Thus the ignorance of man has from time immemorial attributed evil to the owls, and caused them to be regarded with suspicion and superstitious horror, and consequently to be persecuted in every way; and was it not for their habit of keeping close to their hiding places during the day, and only emerging with the declining light, they would probably soon be exterminated from our island, without any regard to their real harmlessness, and the immense benefit they confer on man. It is very rarely indeed that an owl is seen abroad when the sun is shining, but should one from any cause be driven or tempted from his retreat during the day, it is attacked on all sides, mobbed, persecuted, and pursued by a host of small birds, screaming and chattering, and scolding, who knowing its helplessnesss at such a time and seizing the opportunity, rejoice to take the common enemy at a disadvantage, and worry him with great gusto. Like their diurnal brethren of prey, owls reproduce the indigestible parts of the animals they have swallowed, as fur, feathers, bones, &c., in large pellets or castings, many bushels of which may be seen at the foot of the hollow tree, or the bottom of the ruined ivy-covered tower, which they have selected for their al Like the hawks too they live in pairs; but rarely drink: 2. their prey in their feet, for which their sharp claws and, like the buzzards and harriers, beat their hun regular order, near the surface of the earth. In back to the family of falcons, we shall see in gradual approach to the owls in the genera last |