一切經音義 66.82

66.82

Horned owl (鵂鵶; the upper character [鵂] is fanqie 朽尤; the lower character [鵶] is pronounced 留. The Kaosheng says: 'An ominous bird.' The Jixun says: 'The xiuyou (鵂鵶) is the screech owl (𪇑鶘), an ill-omened bird.' The Erya entry for 鵅鵋䳢 has Guo's commentary stating: 'Nowadays in Jiangdong, the horned owl (鵂鵹) is called 鵋䳢; it is also called 鴝鵅.' On examination, this bird hides by day and flies by night, nesting in cliff caverns. Both 鵂鵹 and 𪇑鶘 are named after the sounds they utter. It is as large as a horned hawk, grey-black and mottled in colour, and feeds on various small birds, snakes, mice, and the like).