to the person who wrote from Psalm 133, verse 1 ‘Behold, how good and joyful a
thing it is: brethren to dwell together in unity‘.
OWLS IN BIBLE LANDS
Owls are very popular in Britain. There are documentaries on television, displays
of owls‘ silent flight and acute hearing at counny shows, and pictures on posters
and tea cloths.
However owls in Bible times were thought of as unclean birds or signs of
despair and desolation. Isaiah 34:1 1,15 speaks of God's judgement against the
nations, "the land will lie desolate, owls will possess it". Micah 1:8 says, he will
"howl like a-jackal and moan like an owl". There are several similar references.
Most owls are night hunters. The low frequency of their eerie screeches
or hoots means they are carried over long distances.
A human look
The unblinking stare of an owl can be disconcerting, and the frame of feathers like
ears, give a human look. Owls cannot move their eyes in their sockets, so they
have to move their heads to change their field of vision. Some can turn their
heads through 270 degrees.
Owls do not make nests. Eggs are laid in hollows in the ground or aband-
—oned nests. in hollow trees or under the eaves of roofs. ln hot dry areas they even
nest in rodents’ burrows. While the female incubates her eggs, the male supplies
the food. He may pile up a larder of 30-40 rodents for her.
Barn owls are quite common in populated areas of the Holy Land now.
and the Eagle Owl is not unusual. Short-eared Owls and Scops Owls are seasonal
visitors. Until recently the same could be said of the Long-eared Owl, but it is
now breeding in small numbers all over the country. The Tawny Owl is fairly
rare and more often heard than seen. It has the typical to-whit, to-whoo call.
Dancing on a Pole
The Little Owl is now found all over the Holy Land. It may be seen perched on a
telegraph pole, piping musically and bowing solemnly to its own music.
From 'The Star in the East’, the magazine of Life and Work in Bible Limos.
BEKESBOURNE CHURCH Cleaning & Flower Rota
4!/1. Pam Farbrace, Christine Ash and Rosy Mount to clear out the Christmas
decorations. 18th & 25th. Jill Gillanders